Sword Art Online - Worldwide
by Dragondemolition
Summary: In this story, SAO was not only launched in Japan, but the entire world. This story follows Sebastian, a player of the new and exciting game of SAO. A hundred thousand players log in, and are trapped, death right on their tail. Now, Sebastian stands at a forked road. Will he leave The Town of Beginnings, and help clear the game, or will he stay, and live a new life, here in SAO?
1. Chapter 1 - The Death Games Beginning

_Sword Art Online_

 _World Wide_

 _Chapter 1 – The Death Game´s Beginning_

~Sebastian´s POV~

I softly sighed and leaned back in my chair as I had just finished the last bit of homework for the day. My mother had forced me to do it, even though I had told her a hundred times that the entry ceremony of SAO, the new VRMMORPG game, was starting today, and that I didn´t want to be late for it. She didn´t think too highly of these games however, saying they were nothing but a waste of time.

But for me it was a way to be social. It was a way to explore the world. A way to communicate. If I hadn´t had these games, I wouldn´t know what I would do with myself. In the real world I was a geek, nothing more. Loved games and anime, hated being around others, hated talking to people, and was mostly quiet in school, unless I was asked something by my teacher. I didn´t have many friends in school either, so what i´m telling you is basically the stereotypical geek/nerd scenario.

But in the VR world, I changed into another person. Whenever I would log on to my VR games, I became a handsome and strong warrior, that was able to serve and protect. I became social, it became easy to speak to other people, and it became easy to explore and understand the world. I became someone else. I became someone else than myself.

Loneliness was not a thing in my world, cause when I was alone I was relaxing. Not that I had a problem with being in a crowd, but there was something about being alone that always dragged me back to my room, to my anime and my manga. Something that my mother and father just couldn´t understand.

In the VR world, everyone else understood me. Many other people like me, went to VR to escape reality, to explore a different, and much more exciting world. One where you could trade, buy, sell, equip, and fight your way to the top, and to function in a world where everyone around you was doing the same. For me, this world made sense. The other world was utter chaos, without any meaning. But this world… Was beautiful.

Which is why as soon as I finished my homework, I threw it in my bag, and proceeded to hurriedly and excitedly plugging my Nervegear into the VR system. The game had officially been launched at 1 this afternoon, and the ceremony would start at about ten minutes. If I hurried to the main plaza, maybe I would make it.

I sighed softly and stared up at the ceiling through the helmets glass, smiling softly as I would finally return to the VR world. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes as the clock stroke five.

"Link, start!"

A flash of many different colors and sounds, and a quick system check was all the logging in process was made of. I smiled softly as I began to feel my virtual body take form, forming my being. I smiled even brighter as I felt tight leather forming around my hands, and concrete floor under my feet. I softly blinked my eyes open, smiling around at my new virtual world in wonder.

It was absolutely stunning here. A big city with many houses, a tall dark castle in the middle, and giant brick walls began forming around me. Lush trees and various bird life was surrounding the plaza I was standing in, the birds tweeting and the trees soothingly singing to me with the cool summer breeze through the loud mumbling of players and NPC´s alike all around me.

I looked down at my hand with a soft smile, and I realized it was no longer bare. It was covered by a well crafted leather glove.

"Hehe… A new adventure is beginning…" I mumbled softly as I clenched my hand.

I looked up at the world with a confident smile, before trying to run with my new VR avatar, which I had named, Rintar. It always took a bit of practice to get used to your virtual body, but I had been playing these kind of games for so long that it was a bit easier for me to get used to my avatar than usual.

I smiled a bit as I began getting used to the feeling of heavy leather and hard concrete stone under my feet, and began walking down a buzzling street nearby. I passed one booth after the other, several NPC´s was either selling weapons, armor, or cheap stat boosting accessories.

Players from all over the world was buzzling about, talking, laughing, or dueling each other in short fights by sword, axe or knife, and everywhere you could see that peace truly had filled this city.

I smiled silently as I stood against a wall and watched the lively crowd.

"Damn, there´s a lot of players in here already" I mumbled silently to myself as I noticed how little space was left "I feel like exploring the fields outside town. It would be good to get some training and quests as well"

I smiled softly as I yanked my right hand downwards to open my menu. Once inside I equipped my basic armor and weapon I had had handed to me from my login, and began heading down the street, towards the nearest town gate, which led to the outside world.

I smiled softly and took a deep breath as the bathing sun and the silent summer wind brushing against my face. I smiled silently as I brushed my raven colored hair out of my face with my fingers. I watched how lakes and mountains levitated in midair, creating an adventurous but still beautiful and peaceful atmosphere, even out here where you could be attacked by monsters any second.

I smiled softly as I felt how the tall grass under my feet tickled against my angles with the soft wind. Several boar mobs walked around and silently ate from the lush green grass, minding their own business or doing what they were meant for, which was battling players.

I smiled softly as I saw another boar spawn right nearby, and I decided to go for it. After all, boars was some of the most basic and easy mobs in any kind of RPG game. I should be able to kill one or two of them before having to go back to the city to buy healing crystals and potions.

I smirked a bit as I draw my sword from my side, and positioned myself with a smile. I whistled in its direction to get it´s attention. It´s ears pointed upwards as it heard my whistle and it turned towards me, it´s eyes glowing a bright blood red.

It grunted a bit and scarfed it´s hoof into the ground for a bit, before charging at me full speed. I smiled a little as the boar´s movements was too predictable, and I easily stepped out of it´s path. I smirked a bit as I sliced my blade along one of it´s back hips, teasing it as I knew I had much superiority against this low ranked animal.

I smirked a bit as the boar turned back towards me, and I stepped out of its path once again, before stabbing it in the back and butt with my sword. After about half an hour of repeating the same strategy, I had already collected tens of boar hides, tusks and even leveled up a couple of times.

"Awesome" I mumbled silently to myself as I went through my inventory menu "I can craft some wicked items from all the stuff I decide not to sell"

I smiled softly as I went through my friends list. Until now it was still empty, but I smiled on softly as I thought how many possible people I could befriend in this game.

"I wonder how many friends I will gain in here?" I asked myself as I stared down at the still empty menu "Oh well, no reason to think about it now. Maybe I should head to to-!"

My silent mumbling to myself was suddenly cut off when I heard a loud scream from the forest nearby. I widened my eyes a bit and jumped a bit in my place, but hurried over to see what the commotion was about.

I panted a bit as I ended up right outside the forest, peaking in between the lush trees. I saw several figures inside, two larger figures holding on to a smaller figure´s wrists. The figure kicked and lashed out the best it could, desperately calling for help. It´s voice was very high pitched, so I guessed it was a female.

As I got a little closer, I could see the three people more clearly. The girl the two people was holding wasn´t very old, maybe 15 or 16. She had long blonde hair and bright blue eyes, and she was wearing a long sleeved brown shirt and a short brown skirt. She was also wearing various metal plates along her shoulders, elbows and legs, and small light brown shoes to complete the starting set

I growled silently as I drew my sword and rushed forward, yelling loudly as I charged forward, and giving the culprits a chance to get out of the way on purpose. I didn´t want to hurt them if it turned out they were players, and I certainly didn´t want to turn into an orange player myself.

The culprits jumped out of the way from my slow slash, and let go of the girl they had been holding onto, who immediately jumped onto her feet and ran behind me, covering behind me. It turned out that, indeed, all three were players, the culprits, orange, but the girl was green.

I growled silently as I readied my sword, and the two orange players did the same. One of them, a large well-build man, growled silently as he drew his axe from his back.

"Hey, what the hell!?" He yelled threateningly as he stomped towards me "What´s the meaning of this!? That your boyfriend or something!?"

The question was directed towards the girl, who simply flinched at the harsh question and dug behind me even more.

"I could ask the same thing to you guys" I answered back in as cool a tone I could "What are you doing to her?"

"Don´t worry, don´t worry!" Now the other person, a bit smaller red-blonde female entered the conversation "We just want our money, that´s all!"

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused as to what they were talking about.

"That little shit behind you owes us money from another VR game" the man said as he pointed at the girl aggressively "We´re just taking what is ours"

"How much are we talking about?" I asked silently, knowing I already had for a smaller fortune in my inventory.

"Hmm.. Considering the money rate between games," The tall man mumbled to himself "It would be around 10.000 col!"

I sighed silently as I opened my menu and opened the trading tab.

"Here, take this" I mumbled silently as I traded him every boar pelt, hide and tusk "If you sell all of this, you should have more than enough"

"Huh?" The man stood there baffled, before getting his wits back "Hmph, do what you want"

He pressed the accept button and turned on his heel to exit the forest.

"Merida, we´re leaving" The man said in a commanding tone.

The woman, apparently called Merida, jumped in her place and hurried after him.

The girl behind me sighed a bit and loosened her tight grip in my shoulder as the two people disappeared over the planes. I sighed a little and turned to the girl, who still seemed nervous and afraid.

"Are you ok?" I asked her as I smiled at her gently.

She blushed a bit in return and nodded quickly.

"Y-Yeah… Thank you" She mumbled silently as she looked up at me with shy eyes.

I nodded a bit and patted her silently on the head.

"No problem" I said with a smile.

I looked around me and heard silent and soft growls coming from deeper within the forest. Since I knew the forest had even stronger monsters than the plains outside it, I decided it would be best to retreat.

"Let´s go, it´s dangerous to stay here" I mumbled as I grabbed the girl´s wrist and pulled her along as I began to run.

"R-Right" She mumbled silently as she obediently followed me.

After some time we ended up by a small lake at the plains. I sighed softly and sat down in the lush grass, and the girl I accompanied followed suit, sitting down next to me on the arm ground.

"Thank you again…" She mumbled silently as she casted her gaze downwards "You know, for saving me…"

"No problem, I hate people like that" I mumbled back silently as I watched the sun beginning to set.

I spawned a flask of water from my inventory

"You thirsty?" I asked the girl as I handed her the flask.

She nodded silently and nervously took the flask, placing the tube on her lips as she silently drank.

I smiled silently and lied down in the warm grass, looking over at her.

"So, why did you owe those guys?" I asked silently "I mean, they seem like the wrong people to be around"

"Yeah, I know" She mumbled silently "I was desperate… In another game, I needed some money for a powerful weapon. I had almost all I needed, but I had no potions left, and I was too scared to go out and take the risk. So I borrowed the last bit from some people I met at an inn"

"Right, I guess that makes sense" I mumbled silently "What are you going to do now?"

"Oh, don´t worry" The girl said with a small smile "I have a place I can stay, so…"

"Oh, that´s great" I mumbled silently "So, what´s your name?"

"Celine" She said with a smile "And what is yours?"

"Rintar" I said with a smirk "I know it´s a nerdy name, but what are you going to do?"

Celine giggled a bit and smiled softly as she stood up.

"Well, Rintar, would you mind escorting me back to town?" She said with a smile, seeming more open now "Those people might come back"

"Sure, I was going back there anyway!" I said with a smile, but we never made it that far.

Suddenly, as soon as the sun had settled completely behind the last hill, a blinding light appeared around the both of us. I gasped a bit in surprise and reached out for Celine, but right as I did we both disappeared in the light.

When I once again could see, I looked around me. I was currently standing in the Town Of Beginnings´ main plaza, thousands of players spawning all around me in the same light that had just disappeared from me. Beside me a few feet away, Celine spawned, looked just as bewildered and confused like everyone else.

"W-What the hell just happened!?" I said softly as I stepped up to her, trying to get an explanation from someone.

"I-I don´t know…" She mumbled nervously "M-Maybe it´s some kind of event"

"I don´t know… It might be the opening ceremony" I mumbled silently "But, why didn´t we get a warning on our message board?"

"I don´t know" Celine mumbled again, surely having as many questions as me.

Suddenly, and completely out of nowhere, the sky began blinking with red hexagonic messages. Several reading warning, caution, or other warnings like that, and others just warning us that a message was being displayed.

A blood red liquid looking mass then began drooling from the sky, and began taking form of a giant hooded person. Soon the hooded figure was complete, and the mass of people began screaming for answers.

"Hey! Who the hell are you!?"

"What´s happening!?"

"Why can´t we exit the game all of a sudden!?"

I widened my eyes a bit as I heard that. I quickly opened my menu to check, and sure enough, everything that I saw where the log out button should have been, was a blank open space, without any value. I even tried pressing it, but nothing happened.

I widened my eyes even more as the shock kicked in. 100.000 players, including myself. Was caught in this game. In SAO. There was no way out, at least what I knew of, and the reason for our entrapment was unknown, at least, until now.

I began to panic a bit, but tried to calm myself down, telling myself it might just be a bug, and that big figure must have been one of the game masters, about to explain him or herself. Sadly, it wasn´t a bug, as I was about to find out.

The hooded figure held his hands over the crowd, and cleared his throat to get everyone´s attention. The panicked yelling and nervous whispering died down, so the figure could speak.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of Aincrad," The hooded figure, said in a loud and deep voice "I am Kayaba Akihiko. Head programmer of the game. Welcome to the one and only experience that is, Sword Art Online"

The crowd nervously began whispering again, but quickly died down as Akihiko continued to speak.

"I´m sure everyone must have noticed by now," Kayaba continued "that the log out button from the manual no longer exists in the menu. There is a simple explanation for this"

A hushed silence fell over the audience.

"Let me ensure you, this isn´t a game bug"

I widened my eyes as I heard that.

"This is one of the game´s features. As of today, a hundred thousand players is trapped within my masterpiece of a game. And there is No. Way. Out"

A/N

Hey guys! Welcome to SAO – Worldwide!

Hope you liked the first chapter of my new story! I really liked making it, so I hope you enjoyed!

See you again next week guys! And keep reading!


	2. Chapter 2 - A Tough Choice

_Sword Art Online_

 _World Wide_

 _Chapter 2 – A Tough Choice_

I felt a strange sickening sensation along my tonsils. This news was too much to comprehend. It was unbelievable. It was nonsense. I had to believe in that bullshit because some giant dude just tell me to?

But what if it really was true? What if we really was trapped in here!?

"You bastard!" I felt the rage grow in my body and I screamed towards Kayaba hanging above the crowd "What makes you think you have the right to do this to us!?"

He seemed to have heard me and turned his head in my direction, but he simply ignored my command of answer and continued.

"As I said, there is no way out of this game as a player" He said as he looked over the crowd again "But this also is the case for non players"

"W-What the hell does he mean by that?" I whispered silently, as I stared up at the looming figure.

"If someone from the outside world tries to pull off your Nervegear," He mumbled silently "an internal electric rod in your helmet, will send an electric jolt run through your brain, frying it in the process"

As he spoke, several screens revealing news reports, police and hospital reports, and scenes where several groups of people stood around, aimlessly protesting or crying over the players was shown. A particular screen, showed a woman, trying to comfortingly embrace what I thought was her daughter, who desperately cried into her hands.

"As you can see," Kayaba continued "Several people have ignored the warnings I sent via email, phone, and TV. As a result, two hundred and forty-three people has died of today"

I widened my eyes as I stared up at the torn families on the screen. That girl being comforted by her mother, looked a lot like my sister. It stung at my chest to think about what pain they must be going through by now.

The crowd began getting riddled up again and several people began to panic, shouting angry words at the man.

"What the hell is the meaning with this!?"

"Who do you think you are!"

"I just want to go home! Why are you doing this to us!?

Kayaba rose his hands to make the crowd calm down, and the effect was immediate. Even I fell quiet, even though my rage and fear continued to grow inside me.

"I know you have a lot of questions," Kayaba said, calm to a scary degree "but let me reassure you, that if you make it to the final floor, and beat the final boss, all those questions will be answered. I swear on my reputation as game developer"

I growled silently up at him. 'I swear' my ass. I couldn´t care any less about his reputation. I knew he was a well known developer, not only in Japan, but all over the world. But, his reputation didn´t make him any more believable. I just couldn´t simply trust him and leave it at that! I just couldn´t!

"I have a gift for you all, for being patient with me" Kayaba then said hollowly "It is currently in your items menu"

Everyone, including me, opened their menu and checked for the item. It seemed to be a mirror, not much bigger than a pocket mirror. As I stared into the glass, everyone around me and myself, began glowing, almost like when you get teleported somewhere. When the light disappeared, I looked down at my body, and realized, that it was my real body. My body from the real world!

I looked over at Celine. She was no longer as tall as before, her hair was no longer blonde but a dark shade of black. Her eyes was no longer an inviting blue, but a deep and mysterious shade of dark purplish red.

She stared at me in disbelief and silently pointed at my body as to point out what I had already discovered, and we both stood in silence, taking in what had just happened.

"along with being killed by forcefully removing the Nervegear," Kayaba continued "if your health points reach zero, all data on your avatars will be deleted. Your body, in this world, and the other, will perish. And your soul will leave your body, forever"

This last piece of news became too much for me. I didn´t even hear the last of his speech. I collapsed onto my knees, which in all this time had felt like jelly from anger and fear. My mind flashed back to the boars I had been fighting in the field. If I had made even one wrong move I would have…. I would have…

My mind went blank. I blocked everything out. My mind began focusing on my own despair and hopelessness. Even when Kayaba disappeared, and the crowd around me began dispersing in a wild panic, I kept staring up into nothingness. My fear and anger, my sorrow and regret… It all culminated into a force that made my whole body lock up, and feel numb. I couldn´t move my legs. I was frozen in place.

I finally registered what was happening when I was almost trampled on by a group of men and women, who was desperately trying to get out of the plaza, away from this horrible and scary place. I jumped out of the way and ran along with the crowd. I ran and ran, until I was finally left alone in an alleyway nearby the plaza.

I sobbed silently as I put a hand on a nearby brick wall to support my collapsing body weight. It seemed my fear only had had been so strong that it could only carry me outside the plaza. Now, once again, my body began locking up, and I collapsed onto my knee again, my tears suddenly beginning to flow and hitting the brick floor under my body.

I cried silently as darkness began falling over the city streets, the screams and shouts of fear and agony beginning to fade in the distance. It seemed the fearful people had either hidden themselves in town, or headed out to begin clearing the game.

I turned around and sat down as I leaned against the wall, pondering my options.

On one side, I could go out into the world, the same world that I had seen as beautiful and peaceful less than 2 hours before this. Now, I saw it with a whole different perspective. This had become a place that would bring out the worst fears in me.

The outside world beyond the protective walls of the city was dangerous and unknown, even to a beta tester like me. If I went out there, I would risk to be killed. I could die, and maybe never see my outside family ever again. But then again, I would die in a noble cause, which happened to bring a slight smile to my lips.

On the other hand, I could stay here, in this town. I could forget everything about venturing out into the unknown, create my life like I wanted it. A lifestyle I wanted for myself. I could finally get to live my life like I had always wanted.

But, the other said of the coin, reminded me that if I chose to do that, I would, without a doubt, never see my family again. My parents. Mom, dad, my brothers and my sister. I would never get to gain new memories with them. Staying here in Aincrad would mean leaving my old life behind. And even though I had wished for this in a long time, all of a sudden, I no longer had the courage to embrace that wish.

Somehow, I no longer wished for it.

I hammered my hand onto the brick wall behind me, the _"Immortal object"_ message being displayed the minute I hit the wall with big dark purple letters.

"God dammit…" I growled silently as I let the tears run down my face "I can´t choose between these two! It´s too tough of a choice!"

I cried silently as I pulled my legs up under me, and wrapped my arms around my legs, leaving me in a fetal position. I was left on a crossroad. I knew I had to make a decision, and the more I would wait for my answer, the tougher it would be to choose.

My thoughts fell back on Celine. She had seemed so scared back there. The feelings of responsibility I had towards her was slight, but they were present. I felt like I had to find her again. I just wanted to make sure she was safe. Somehow, by saving her, I had felt like she had somehow become my responsibility. I felt like I had to keep her safe, to make sure she would see her family again.

But, one problem arose as I sat there, and gloated my own misery. I didn´t know where Celine were. I hadn´t befriended her yet either, so I wouldn´t be able to trace her down with my minimap on the friends list tap. It would become extremely hard to find her, even if she had stayed in town, due to the enormous size of the city alone.

I could always contact a game master NPC and make him make a public announcement for Celine to hear, but that costed a fortune. Another problem that stood in my way.

I sighed silently as my tears at long last stopped trailing from my eyes, and I rubbed my thumb over the trail of water, drying them away from my cheeks. I sighed a little and looked up from my fetal position, deciding to head to the main gate in town, deciding to make a choice there.

It seemed like I hadn't been the only one getting that idea. Several other girls, boys, men and women, was standing by the main entrance to the city, pondering whether they should head out to fight for freedom, or stay, making their life their own in a new world.

I sighed silently as I stepped up to the city border, looking out at the silent and dark plains that spread out in front of the small crowd that had gathered at the city gate. I sighed and took a deep breath, when I suddenly felt a slight tug at my left shoulder.

"I-Is that you, Rintar?"

A petite and shy voice soon followed the tug, and I gasped slightly from surprise as I turned my head, seeing Celine looking at me with a worried and shy expression. I saw a glimmer of light in her eyes and a smile widening on her lips as she realized it really was me.

"oh thank god" She whispered silently as she sighed in relief "it´s good to see you again Rintar"

"Yeah, good to see you too Celine" I said with a smile "So, what are you going to do?"

"I don´t know" She mumbled silently as she cast a worried glance at the gate "I really have no idea…"

"Yeah, me neither" I mumbled silently as I looked up at the gate as well "I must admit, it´s one hell of a choice"

Now that I no longer had the body of Rintar, the strong, handsome, and confident warrior, I was once again scared of talking to people. It felt like I would once again become asocial, someone not worth talking to. Though, luckily enough for me, Celine seemed to be an exception, since we already had come to know each other before we were summoned to the plaza-

Luckily enough, I managed to get at least one friend before I would return to this weak, and unsure version of myself. But, unlike my earlier experiences with online and VR games, I now knew that the possibility of meeting anyone in here, with my personality and all, would be slim. I sighed silently as I looked up at the gate. That pretty much confirmed it.

If I wouldn´t be able to make friends, there was no reason to stay in the city. If I had to stay a loner, I might as well fight to save the players of Sword Art Online.

"All right, I have made my choice" I mumbled silently as I took a step further into the wilderness.

My progress made some ruckus in the backrows, as several people began shouting at me.

"Are you crazy!? You´ll get killed!"

"He must be suicidal or something!"

I sighed silently and turned around to look at the crowd, seeing Celine looking at me with a worried expression. I clenched my fists and looked out at the crowd.

"Yeah, I might be crazy" I yelled loudly, to make them hear what I had to say "But if I don´t do something about this… If no one leaves the city, then we will never see our precious families again"

The crowd seemed slightly taken aback, falling silent. Celine watched me with a stunned expression.

"If we don´t fight for our freedom," I yelled "We will let Kayaba Akihiko get away with his crimes! He will get away with trapping one hundred thousand players here! Do you want to let him get away with such a serious crime!?"

"no.. Hell no we don´t.." One man in the back began shouting, in agreement. He spoke up as well "Come on guys! Let´s bring the fight to that bastard! Let´s reach the hundredth floor, and kick Kayaba´s ass!"

A roaring yell of applause rippled through the crowd as most of the players drew their weapoms and sped off into the unknown. I smiled slightly from a mix of satisfaction and surprise. I didn´t know I would ever work up the courage to talk to a crowd like that, but… A sense of justice had apparently given me that exact courage.

Celine smiled silently as she stepped up to me, giving my shoulder a slight squeeze.

"C-Can we team up for a while?" She asked shyly as she looked away from embarrassment "I-I believe I can build up my courage if I have a partner…"

"Y-Yeah, sure we can Celine" I said with a smile as I opened my menu "I´m inviting you to my party, and befriending you right now"

"Thank you Rintar" She mumbled silently as she accepted both without hesitation.

"Now, do you have the courage to depart today?" I asked silently as I offered my hand.

She looked at my hand with a wondering expression, but shook her head after a moment of thought.

"No, not today" She mumbled with a sigh "I don´t yet have the courage. Besides, I need to properly prepare myself"

"I can see the sense in that as well" I said with a smile, though feeling a sting of disappointment "Let´s get back to town and prepare. We can leave whenever you feel ready"

"Sounds good Rintar" She mumbled with a smile as we began walking back into the city "And, if we´re supposed to have a good partnership, maybe we should tell each other our names? Our real names?"

"Huh?"

I looked at her with a slightly surprised expression, but I could see the sense behind her reasons. I quickly gained my composure and nodded at her.

"O-Oh uhm sure" I mumbled silently "M-My name is Sebastian Deltaro. I´m 16"

I added my age for a proper introduction, and Celine smiled silently

"Good to meet you Sebastian" She said with a happy smile "I´m Celine Hyrota. I turned 15 about two weeks ago"

"Good to meet you" I said with a smile, as we ventured back into the city.

~On the hundredth floor, 3rd person POV~

In the golden throne statue in the diamond castle of the hundredth floor, Kayaba Akihiko by one of the giant windows overlooking his world. He smirked a bit as he took a glance at a monitor showing a small group of people, standing by the Town of beginnings main exit gate, cheering to themselves and trying to muster up their courage to challenge his masterpiece.

"hmm… It seems they´re more riled up than expected" He mumbled silently as he turned a glass of wine in his right hand "Let´s hope they can bring a proper challenge"

He sighed silently as he closed the monitor and turned on his heel, heading for the giant golden throne in the far end of the room. He smiled silently and looked into the red liquid of wine in his thin glass, seemingly wondering to himself.

"I wonder how far they´ll get…" I he mumbled silently as he focused intensely on his glass´ contents "Around floor 90 the game is practically impossible. And then there´s the bosses on floor 25, 50 and 75…"

He chuckled silently as he turned to watch another monitor, apparently showing a young raven haired boy, headed out in the wilderness, and about to face off with a timber wolf. He killed the wolf with a perfect lined slash, and screamed out to his world, in a mix of adrenaline, anger, fear, but Kayaba also seemed to be able be able to see a hint of desperation, but excitement in the young boys eyes.

"Hmm… He seems interesting, to say the least" Kayaba said with what seemed like a proud smile "He takes my game seriously at least. I wonder why he´s alone…"

Kayaba smiled silently and soomed in slightly on the boy that apparently piqued on his interest. He opened his menu and used his game master privileges to look into the boys profile.

"Kirito huh?" He mumbled in an interested tone "One handed sword user, no shield, heavy and powerful equipment… Interesting… Interesting indeed…"

He smiled silently as he closed his eyes, picturing the wonderful battle to come in his head. He imagined to himself how the sparks would fly from the weapons, and how painful it would be to lose.

"I look forward to a wonderful battle…" Me murmured to himself silently "Good luck to you all…"

 **A/N**

 **And that´s chapter 2! Hope you liked it, cause I think I did really good this time!**

 **Thank you guys for reading! Every little review, favorite and follow means the world to me!**

 **See you guys next week, and keep reading!**


	3. Chapter 3 - Midnight Stroll

_Sword Art Online_

 _Worldwide_

 _Chapter 3 – Midnight Stroll_

I sighed silently as I plopped down on the soft bed of the rented room of the inn. I looked up at the wooden ceiling beams, wondering what our first move in the outside world would be.

"Obviously we have to get stronger, but…" I sighed again and closed my eyes "If we go for the more powerful monsters, we risk getting killed"

I frowned a bit as I looked at the door to my room. Outside across the hall, Celine was sleeping peacefully. I could even hear some of her snoring from the other side.

I smiled a bit as I thought about her. The danger she was put in… She must have been scared out of her mind. All of a sudden, she was forced to play a game that might get her killed in the end. I wondered what thoughts had and was running through her head, and if she would make it through mentally.

"I hope she's okay" I mumbled as I looked back up at the ceiling beams "I can't imagine the pain of losing someone precious… I would like to spare her family of that fate"

I sighed a bit and rolled over again, unable to sleep. It was only the first night, and already, I had trouble sleeping, and being calm. My nerves of the upcoming dangers was irritating beyond measure, and it made it so I couldn't sleep.

I decided to stop trying and go for a walk through town. Even if it was night, I could easily get something to eat somewhere in town. I might even be able to gear up extra well for the upcoming battles.

A lot of preparation had to be done before we would head off. I felt how my fear of dying kept rising. I felt it strange, how much I missed my family all of a sudden. I mean, before I realized that SAO was a death game, I couldn't wait to get away from them. But now I missed them more than ever.

My thoughts fell onto my parents. My mom and dad. I wonder what thoughts was running through their heads. Were they scared for my sake? Were they worried? Earlier, about 10.000 players had collapsed all of a sudden, without any kind of explanation. It must have been because they were moved to hospitals so they could be taken care of, me included. I think I was face first in the pavement for about 10 minutes.

So I must be lying in a hospital bed by now, with an IV and several other machines attached to my arms and body with tubes and such. Was my family there with me? How long were they willing to stay there at my bedside before they had to go home for school and work? How much would my situation strain on their minds?

All these thoughts ran through my head as I equipped some casual wear and wrote a note for Celine to read if she ever looked after me. I put on my boots and headed out into the peaceful Aincrad night.

Even at night, the town was beautiful, maybe even more than it was at night. Streetlights was silently illuminating the city streets as players and NPC's walked and talked to each other in serious conversation, most of them either being about the choice of leaving or staying town, or strategies of beating a certain monster or opponent.

I sighed silently as I looked up at the night sky above The Town of Beginnings hanging like a blanket over the town and the surrounding landscapes. Millions of stars shined brilliantly onto the city, trying to calm down the riveting people.

I smiled a little and sighed. Even if this was a death game, it's beauty was a thing you could always be thankful for if you gave yourself the time to do so. Currently I had all the time in the world, so I could see how beautiful this game really was.

I looked down from the sky as I suddenly realized I had arrived at a small plaza near the black castle near the back of the city. I hadn't really noted where I was going, so I had just went. It surprised me how far I had already wandered, and I looked around with a perplexed expression.

"Huh? Where am I?" I mumbled silently as I looked around the small plaza.

Suddenly I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turned around to see who it was. Maybe it was Celine? But no one was standing behind me.

"Wait, what the hell?" I mumbled as I again felt a tap on my shoulder, and I spun around again.

Still nothing.

Who was teasing me?

"Hey, would you stop doing that whoever you are?" I yelled loudly "it's getting irritating"

"Hehe, sorry, sorry. You just looked a little confused so I figured I would have some fun with you"

Suddenly I felt another tap on my shoulder and I turned around with an irritated grunt, but though I thought I once again would see nothing, I saw something way different.

It was a girl. She was wearing dark brown short shorts that reached to her upper thigh and was kept up with a crafty leather belt. Her shirt, or tank top maybe, was dark red and reached a bit over her belly button, which was pierced with a needle with a bright red ruby in its tip.

She was wearing a bright red jacket around her tank top which was a bit more crimson red then her tank top, and had long sleeves that was almost too long for her arms. By her hips, two long bladed daggers hang in her belt on each side of her body.

Her hair was a bit long, almost reaching her shoulders. Some of it hanged off her head while some of it was braded into a few strings that was neatly put into a bun. Her eyes was a bright blue, and warmly inviting.

I blushed a little as I looked at her. She was very beautiful, I had to give her that. She seemed to have a very playful attitude, so I stepped over to her with a wondering expression.

"Would you care to explain why you're picking on strangers?"

"I said sorry already. I was just having a little fun" She said with a wink before turning away from me "It's a beautiful night, isn't it?"

I was slightly taken aback by her way of changing topic. She must be really good at changing the situation to her advantage.

"I-I guess it is" I mumbled as I stepped up beside her "It's not all who stop to think about it"

Her happy and quirky attitude surprised me a lot. You would think that she would seem scared and nervous when she was in this situation, but she didn't seem to care about what had happened at all.

"U-Uhm, you seem pretty upbeat" I mumbled as I looked at her "Aren't you scared at all?"

"Scared? About what?"

Was she completely oblivious to the situation we were in!?

"Are you stupid or something?" I mumbled softly and she looked over at me "You know we all die if we die in here right?"

"Oh right, people die when they are killed" She said with a sarcastic tone "Very keen observation"

"No I mean, in this game" I mumbled with a blush "If we die in the game we die in real life too. Aren't you scared of dying at all?"

"Oh so that's what you mean" She said with a smile "No, I'm not afraid of dying"

"Huh? Why not?"

"Well, first of all, I trust my gamer instincts" she said with a smile "Second of all, I think that if I die, there's not much to do to prevent it. And there isn't that many people back home that will miss me if I do"

"Huh? You don't have a family?"

"Not that much" She said with a smile "I only have my grandparents, and they're so old that if I die they will follow close by"

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that" I mumbled as I sighed "Well, I am scared. I'm scared to leave my family behind"

"I understand that" She said with a little smile "But I think, if you do die, that your family will know that you fought bravely to stay alive"

"Thanks" I mumbled silently Are you staying here in town?"

"I think I'm going to battle to get out of here. There's still a lot for me to do in the real world"

"Like what?"

"Well, first of all, I have never fallen in love"

My heart almost skipped a beat when she said that.

"L-Love? How old are you anyway, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I'm fifteen. Why?"

"You just seemed like someone a little young to talk about love"

"Hey! I'm a refined young woman. I'm mature enough to think about that kind of stuff"

The way she was acting before and teasing me told me something else though.

"Sure, whatever you say"

I chuckled a bit as I sat down on a nearby bench, and looked up at the stars.

"So, I never really got your name stranger" she said with a wink as she sat beside me.

"Oh right. Avatar or real?"

"Real please. I wish to know the people I befriend"

"Then, my name is Sebastian"

"Sebastian, huh? You from Europe?"

"How'd you know?"

"It just seems like a name from around those parts" She said with a wink and a smile "Just so you know, my name is Eva"

"Oh, like the Eva's from End of Evangelion?"

"People still remember that old show? I'm shocked"

"Well, I'm a bit of an otaku I guess" I said with a chuckle "Why are you out here anyway?"

"Well, I was hoping some of the NPC shops was still open" She said with a smile "my old weapon is pretty worn down. I wanted to know if I could get a new one"

"Really? I think there's a pretty decent shop somewhere nearby. I could take you if you want?"

"Wow, really!? Thanks! Let's go right now!"

She smiled widely and giggled heartfully as she skipped down the street. I followed after her in a rush.

"Hey! I'm supposed to be in front if I should lead the way!"

"Think you can keep up?" She said with a playful giggle as she stuck her tongue out at me.

"Just you watch!" I said with a smile as we sprinted along the street.

It was a bit weird to be this playful and close to pretty much a stranger already, but it felt nice too. I soon slipped past her and she giggled as she followed me towards the weapon shop.

When we arrived there, I turned around to face her, with a bit of a pant in my breathing from the long run.

"Here you are!" I said with a smile.

Weird. It had never been so easy to talk to someone when I was just being… Me. I had a weird connection with this girl, I could tell. I wonder if she could tell too? I guess her open nature made it easier to talk to her, and made her more open and confident. That, and the fact that I knew she was playing this game, gave me the feeling she might be a gamer just like myself.

A cool breeze wafted through the street as she smiled and nodded at me.

"Thanks!" She said with a smirk as she skidded up the steps to the shop "Wait here, I'll be right back"

Huh? She wanted me to wait? I thought she only needed me to guide her to the shop?

I shrugged a bit after I had watched her disappear through the shop's door, and I stood against the wall of the building, staring up at the sky and counting stars to waste time. I knew that, unless she had a hard time picking a new weapon, this wouldn't take long.

I smiled a bit as I heard the bell of the shop, and looked up at Eva as she exited the shop with a big grin on her face.

"Thanks for helping me today" She said softly "Are you on the raiding team?"

"Huh? Why would you assume that?" I asked softly as we continued down the street.

"Well, I don't know, curiosity made me ask I guess" She said with a giggle "I assume you're not then?"

"Well, no, I am, but…" I mumbled silently "I was just wondering what gave it away"

"I just had a feeling I guess" She said softly.

The raiding team had been formed already a few hours after the game had launched, and they had taken responsibility for raiding and clearing the floors as a form of attack group for all players. I had been thinking about joining them, but I hadn't had the time to think much about it.

"Well, to answer your question, no, I'm not" I said softly "But I think I will join them"

"Really?" She asked quietly, looking down at the ground quietly "Aren't you scared at all?"

"Of course I am" I mumbled quietly as I stretched my arms in tiredness "But I don't think I have a choice in this situation"

"Huh? Why not?" She asked with a confused expression.

"Well, I want to survive" I said with a quiet smile "And if I want to do that, I also think I have a part of the responsibility of getting everyone out of here"

"That makes sense I guess" She said quietly, looking over at me.

I felt a little nervous talking to her, and every now and again, I casted a short glance over at her, as if almost to study her facial expression. I was sometimes very negative, and I often studied people's facial expression to see if they had any dark back-thoughts about me when we talked, or if they were lying to me.

Though I couldn't really read anything about this girl. Actually I caught her staring at me sometimes, and whenever I did, we would both blush and look away nervously. I had no idea why I was feeling or acting that way, though one of the reason's I came to, was that she was just a cute girl, and that I was nervous because of that.

When we arrived at the inn in town, I sighed quietly and looked over at Eva with a neutral expression.

"We'll, this is my stop" I said with a smile "Do you live somewhere else in town, or?"

"Nah, it's way too early in the game for that" She said with a chuckle "I don't have nearly enough money for an apartment. This is actually the place I've rented, so let's not just stand out here"

I chuckled softly and shrugged my shoulders as I followed her inside, walking along the carpet in the middle. As I knew it had already turned way past midnight, I decided to pay for an extra day at the inn for both me and Celine, just in case we would need it. As soon I was done paying, it was Eva's turn, and when she was done, she turned to me with a smile.

"Alright, it was nice meeting you Sebastian" Eva said with a smile "I better go catch some Z's if I want to have even the slightest hope of getting stronger tomorrow"

"Yeah, me too" I mumbled as I stretched and yawned "If I want to make it through the boss battle in a couple of days, I need to be at my best"

"Yeah, I guess so" She mumbled and sighed as we followed each other upstairs "I wish I could be there with you guys"

"Why can't you?" I asked silently "The extra help would always be appreciated, and to be honest, me and my partner could use an extra team member"

"Huh? Your partner?" Suddenly a sly smirk crossed her face and she patted me on the back "You don't mean that kind of partner, do you?"

"H-Huh!? What the hell are you suggesting!?" I almost yelled as a blush instantly rose all the way to my ears.

"There's totally something going on there" She said with a smirk "Look at your ears! They're blood red!"

"It's nothing like that, okay?!" I said sharply as I stepped towards my room embarrassedly.

"Hey! Wait a minute!" She said with a giggle as she skidded after me "I haven't added you to my friends list yet!"

"Huh? We're supposed to do that?" I said in an attempt to get back at her "Meh, I might as well do it"

"Don't be a dick" She said with a giggle before she asked for my name and sent me a friend request.

I chuckled softly and accepted it, before taking hold of my doorknob.

"Well, I'll see you sometime" I said with a smile "If you're not here tomorrow morning that is"

"Don't worry, I'll stay here in town" She said.

I nodded and turned to walk into my room, but looked back over my shoulder as Eva called out to me.

"Oh and, about that whole, teaming up thing?" She said softly as she looked at me "I'll think about it, okay? See you later"

And with that, she smiled, winked at me, and closed her door behind her. I blushed a little at her wink but didn't put much thought to it before I walked into my own room, and closed the door.

I sighed a bit and unequipped my stuff, before jumping into bed, staring up at the ceiling beams for a bit, just like before.

"Eva huh?" I mumbled silently as I closed my eyes with a smile "She seems interesting. I hope she is willing to help us advance to the next floors"

And with that thought, I fell asleep, nervous and afraid for the upcoming battle, but also reassured and confident. I had Celine, and possibly Eva with me after all. I hadn't spend that much time with Celine, but I knew that she was trustable. And Eva… Well, I didn't know that much about her, but since I had apparently gotten better at sociably conversing and interacting, I was excited to see if she was going to join or not.

I sighed deeply and tried to force myself to sleep, and ignore my nervousness for the boss fight. Eventually I succeeded, and felt myself fall into slumber.


	4. Chapter 4 - The Sinful Boneward

_Sword Art Online_

 _SAO Worldwide_

 _Chapter 4 – The Sinful Boneward_

~Sebastian's POV~

I sighed silently as I looked up at the sky, waiting outside the blacksmith shop in the small town of Greenrun. A month and a half had already passed, and yet, we hadn't found the first boss room. Several thousand people had been killed, and some had even gone missing of unknown causes.

For me personally, the month felt like it had flown past me before I could even manage to blink. For some reason, the time just flew right by for me. Me and Celine had decided to team up shortly after she was jumped by those two people a month ago. Since then we had stuck together like we had been glued together, and Celine never dared to leave my side.

We had already fought countless battles, monster after monster, and we had both somehow managed to climb all the way to lvl. 13 already. Even I didn't know how we'd done it.

And now, Celine was inside the blacksmith shop and buying a new weapon from all the money we had raised. I smiled silently as I looked up at the clouds lazily drifting by.

We had great teamwork, Celine and I. When one of us was cornered, the other would swiftly whoosh in to help. When one needed to heal, the other draw attention away from the first. We always made sure to support each other no matter what, and so far, our friendship, or maybe partnership in this sense, had gone much better than I initiatively hoped for it to be.

I sighed a bit and looked back down from the sky as I finally heard the soft sound of a doorbell, and a couple of shoes walk down the stairs towards me. I looked up, but was fairly disappointed when I saw a tall man step down the stairs instead of Celine. I guess the store has more than one customer at a time.

I sighed a bit and leaned back at the wall, before looking back up at the sky. The clouds was still drifting on sleepily, big, puffy and white.

I noticed that I had hardly ever smiled since Kayaba announced his death game for us a month and a half ago. I guess the stress of constant farming off monster NPC´s, and the fear of getting killed, quickly had gotten to me.

Celine always seemed positive though. Each morning when we would meet in the dining area in the inn in town, she would always flash me this wide, sincere and innocent smile. Sometimes she acted a lot younger than she actually was, and I guess it was one of her ways of keeping her spirits held high.

That had happened this morning too, and I couldn't help but feel at ease when she was around. I just couldn't quite put my finger on what was so special about her though.

I widened my eyes in surprise as I suddenly felt a tap on my shoulder, and saw Celine standing right beside me with a bright smile. How had she managed to sneak up me!?

"W-Wait, where did you-"

"you're a really heavy daydreamer you know" She said with a giggle "I have been standing here for like, 20 seconds"

"You could have said something you know" I mumbled with a bit of a pout.

"That's what I'm doing right?" She said with a smile "Come on, we had to get some more items for our exploring today, remember?"

She smiled a bit as she took my hand in hers and began tugging at gently, wanting me to follow along. I looked at her with confused eyes.

"Wait, weren't I supposed to get a new weapon too!?"

"That can wait! We have to get some potions"

"W-What!?"

And that was how most of the first hours of that morning flew by. It mostly consisted of Celine dragging me around to shop after shop, me desperately trying to keep up with her, and try not to faint when I saw the insane prizes on crafting materials.

We had planned to go exploring for the first boss room today, and maybe get some training done. We would of course not challenge the boss alone, which would practically be suicide at our level. But at least we could map out the area, and make it easier for the raiding team to get through the dungeon that way, and we could get through to the boss without having to strain ourselves too harshly.

I sighed a bit but smiled silently as I looked down at the steel grey blade of my new one-handed sword, which I had finally found a chance to buy. I had not been that crazy with weapons in the real world, quite frankly trying to avoid them entirely, but I couldn't help but a specific sense of nostalgia and pride as I looked at my reflexion in the blade.

I smiled silently at my reflection before putting the sword back in its hilt.

"So, are we ready to go now?" I asked as I eyed Celine with a pout "To be honest I'm tired of being dragged around everywhere"

"Sorry" She said with a cheeky smile "ok, potions, check. Antidote, check. Teleport crystal, check"

As she went through her shopping list I smiled a bit and put my sword in my belt, hanging it loosely on my hip. When I was done looking through my own inventory we headed out towards the grasslands outside town.

"So, where do you think we should look first?" I asked softly as I looked over at Celine questioningly.

"Well, most boss battles exist in caves or castles right?" She mumbled silently "Or at least, the first boss usually does"

"I guess that makes sense" I mumbled silently "Are you saying we should look by the mountains?"

"Couldn't hurt to look right?" She said with a smile "Besides, you've been yapping about wanting to get a rare drop from there all week"

"That's true" I said with a chuckle and a smile "alright, that's the first order of business then"

I smiled a bit as we walked on in silence a bit. The only thing we could hear was the wind in the trees around us, and the silent lulling sound of this area's music slowly drive in a loop in the background. The grass was getting tall and I could feel it tickle against the skin of my hands as we walked.

After a while, Celine looked over at me with a worried expression.

"Hey, Sebastian?"

I looked over at her with a soft smile, not sure what she was so worried about.

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?" She twiddled her fingers nervously.

"Sure, go ahead"

"Are you afraid of dying?"

Her question took me slightly aback and I looked over at her with a confused expression. Why did she suddenly become so worried? Though I decided to stick to the blunt truth.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked quietly as I looked away from her and into the sky "Of course I'm afraid. 'm afraid that I never get to see my world, or any other world ever again"

She nodded silently as she listened to me and spoke up again.

"Then why did you decide to fight instead of staying in the town of beginning? I mean, I did the same so I could see my family again, but…"

She frowned a bit and looked down at the ground.

"Then you just answered your own question"

She widened her eyes at my answer and looked up at me in confusion.

"Huh?"

"I want to see my family again too. I feel like there's too much I have to tell them"

"what do you mean Sebastian?"

"Well," I mumbled as I scratched my neck "me and my family never got along that well. My parents didn't like how I spent my life cooped up in my room all day, playing video games"

"I see.."

"My siblings didn't think much of me because of the same reason. Everyone told me to get friends and be sociable. None of them understood how hard that stuff is for me"

"Sorry, but I can't see the problem here"

"What?"

I looked over in surprise. Suddenly she was speaking up about how she couldn't see what the problem was! Did she even listen at all.

"I mean, you're good enough at talking with me" she mumbled silently as she looked away "And when we talked after you saved me, you seemed sociable enough"

"Oh, right…" I mumbled silently. So that's what she meant "Well, that was before I became myself again. You were talking to my avatar, not me. He's the sociable one"

"but what about now? I mean, we're talking right now aren't we?"

"Well that's because I know you now, and you're a person I trust"

She looked at me surprised and a blush rose on her cheeks. She smiled silently and nodded.

"I see.. Please continue your story"

"Alright, where was I?" I mumbled "Oh, right. So my family didn't like what I was doing, and frankly I was getting quite fed up with them. So we might have had a few fights where we said some things we regret now. I want to get out of this world, and tell them sorry for what I have done and told them"

"I can see what you mean" Celine mumbled with a sigh, but then smiled a bit "let's make sure you get out then, okay?"

"Right"

We fell silent again, and walked on not saying another word. Eventually we stumbled across a cave, with a sign with a skull on it outside, saying "Death" and "Do not enter"

"If this doesn't say boss battle, I don't know what does" I mumbled silently as I unsheathed my sword and peeked inside "there's no monsters Celine. Come on in"

She nodded softly and drew her brand new set of daggers as we began to explore the small cave.

~Half an hour later~

Celine and I had worked together to map out this dungeon for quite a while now. I was surprised how weak the monster NPC's was in regard to last time I was here, in the beta tests. I had this sneaking feeling that something was missing.

As we wandered along the narrow corridors of the cave, we suddenly arrived at a widening open space, with torches hanging along the stone walls of the cave. I looked around in wonder, until my vision fell on a single chest in the middle of the room. This smelled far away of trap.

I looked over at Celine with a determined expression and she looked over at me, with a deciding nod. I slowly crept out into the room, expecting an enemy to pounce on me at any moment now, but nothing special of any sorts happened. I looked around in confusion. Maybe it really wasn't a trap?

As I walked a bit farther into the room, I could see a huge metal door decorated with skulls and bones all over. It was definitely the boss room.

"Alright Celine, we found it" I said softly as I turned towards her "Let's ignore that chest for now and get back to the others. Do you have your crystal ready?"

"Yep!" she said with smile "Right he-!"

Her smile suddenly dropped and I looked at her wonderingly. She pointed upwards to a point behind me and I quickly spun around.

I widened my eyes as I stared into a hollow knight helm, with nothing but two red glowing orbs way in the back. I yelled in terror and stumbled backwards, to see what the hell that abomination was.

It seemed to be a double sized humanoid skeleton, complete with knight's armor and helm and a giant sword to boot. Two life bars appeared over its head along with it's name.

" _The Sinful Boneward"_

I yelled in terrified surprise and fell back on my rear, panickingly backing away from the mini boss.

"W-W-What the hell is that!?" I yelled loudly as I pointed at the monstrous thing.

"What do you think it is!?" Celine yelled as she pulled me back on my feet "It's a mini boss!"

I growled a bit at her attitude, but quickly got back to my feet as I drew my weapon.

"Damn, this thing looks tough" I mumbled as I stared into the place where the man's head should have been "Do you think we can take it on?"

"I'm not sure" She mumbled in response "I don't feel like taking the chance… What if we die in here?"

"You're right, we should head back for now" I mumbled as I grabbed a teleport crystal "Teleport, Greenrun!"

I held it into the air for a few seconds, but when I realized nothing was happening, I tried again. Still, no result.

"What the hell!?" I mumbled quietly "Why isn't my crystal working?"

"S-Sebastian, look out!"

I barely had time to react to what happened around me, and a small "oof" escaped my lips as Celine tackled me out of the way of an enormous downwards slash of the mini boss. His sword barely missed the two of us, and the force from the blow send us back on our feet before we knew it.

"Jesus" I mumbled with wide eyes "That would definitely have killed me"

"Well, take a look at the cave road" Celine mumbled with a nervous frown "It's blocked off with some kind of barrier. I don't think we can leave until we beat this douche"

"Seems like it" I mumbled as I took a glance at the skeleton knight.

He hovered over us and his skull formed into something I thought was supposed to be a grin, before he slashed at us again. Due to the size and weight of his sword his movements was slow and easy to dodge, but if he would manage to get a grip at any of us we would definitely be toast.

"Alright Celine, here's my thoughts" I mumbled as we dashed away from the mini boss "If we manage to get enough speed in our attacks, we should be okay. If he grabs for you with his free hand, get the hell out of there. I'm sure he has some nasty tricks up his metal sleeves, so be careful okay?"

"Roger" she said shortly with a furrowed brow, before we both turned to face the enormous threat to our lives.

This was one of the more tougher battles. Me and Celine had been up against some staggering odds the last month we had battled together, but nothing quite like this. Though I still had a feeling I should trust in our ability to help one another in these kinds of situations.

I tightened the grip on my sword before dashing forward towards the monster, Celine trailing me close behind.

"Alright, I'll start attacking" I yelled to her "As soon as he parries me, switch in!"

"Got it!" She screamed at me and I turned back towards the skeleton.

I yelled a bit from battle-infused adrenaline, as I aimed my sword at it's torso, but the skeleton was a bit too fast for me, which I had of course already predicted. As soon as I was tossed backwards by the force of his parry, I screamed at Celine to switch.

She smiled as the tactic apparently worked, and she stabbed her weapon straight through the decayed and rotten armour of the, without a doubt, old warrior. He screamed a bit from pain and swung down at her, but she used this opportunity to dodge to the left, using her speed to run counterclockwise around him, stabbing him every now and again on her way around him, before retreating.

I took this as my que to initiate my own attack, and I quickly activated a quick sword skill as I dashed forward, called "Triple Stab"

I aimed at his chest and let the skill take effect, and as you would think, stabbed him three times in his chest. After about 2 seconds the cooldown timer was out, and I smirked as I continued my assault, slashing across his chest armor in several X's, before ducking backwards to dodge another powerful attack.

As I did, Celine immediately followed up with a new and even more powerful assault, mercilessly digging her sword into the armor of the skeleton mini boss. As his health soon enough went into first the yellow, then the red zone, something felt incredibly odd to me.

This mini boss was way too easy. It was the first mini boss after all. More times than not, several groups of people was needed to take such a thing down. We were only two people, and we barely had a challenge with this guy.

I had barely even put that thought to an end, before the mini boss' health went into red. He screamed loudly as me and Celine retrieved backwards, Celine shooting a confident smirk at me.

"This is going great Sebastian" She said with a smile "No need to be so nervous huh?"

Just as she said that the skeleton yelled at the top of his lungs (or not), as he began tearing off his armor, revealing more of the naked skeleton below, along with two short swords. As he was finished ripping off his armor he tore off one of his own ribs, deforming it between his hands.

"I-It's changing battle technique" I yelled at Celine as a warning "Be ready for anything possible!"

"Got it"

As we shouted to each other it seemed the skeleton was finished deforming it's ribs into several small statues, seemingly no changes from himself besides the size. Each little statue had a set of small short swords at their feet, basically the same equipment as the boss.

"He's spawning minions" I mumbled quietly.

And barely had I mumbled that, as his army of minions charged, with intent to kill.


	5. Chapter 5 - Exhaustion Of Battle

_Sword Art Online_

 _Worldwide_

 _Chapter 5 – Exhaustion of Battle_

Everything went to hell. We weren't ready for the mini boss, and we were slowly being overwhelmed by the mini boss's minions. The main boss didn't even have to battle us, since we had more than enough on our hands with his minions. We had been separated relatively quickly, and each of us must have been battling five different skeleton minions each.

Luckily, they weren't very strong individually, so even if they did manage to break my defense and hurt me, they wouldn't hurt me for that much damage. The problem was that they were quickly overwhelming me, to the point that I couldn't even see my surroundings for all the skeleton in my way.

I growled as they pushed up against the dungeon wall and surrounded me, watching me with a grin on their faces. I watched their movement for a while, making sure I knew what each of them were doing. When each of them took a few steps forward I used another sword skill named "Whirlwind Slash", swinging around in a circular pattern and slashing them across their boney chests, bursting them away from me.

Each of them landed on their backs with a scream and I smirked and jumped forward before slashing down at two or three at the skeletons and finishing them off, leaving me with only two opponents left. I looked around me and tried to find Celine and her 5 opponents, and I spotted them somewhere in the other end of the cave.

I growled quietly and fought my remaining opponents off, before sprinting over to support Celine in battle. Her opponents was also closing in on me the same way the had been doing it to me, and I whistled at them and smirked before slashing at them vigorously. Three of them vaporized in blue glass shards in the air, and this gave Celine enough space to get rid of the last two skeleton minions.

"Phew, thank you Sebastian" She mumbled tiredly as she wiped her forehead from fatigue "I'm not sure how long I can go on like this. If he spawns more minions, I'm not sure I'm going to survive"

"If he want to spawn more minions, he's going to need more ribs" I said as I tossed her a health potion "I don't think he can spawn anything else."

"Good" she mumbled as she placed the flask's opening to her lips "Now this should be easy enough. We just have to look out for his attacks. They should be faster since his weapons are lighter and smaller"

"That sounds good" I mumbled with a nod as we moved our focus to the mini boss "Let's go by the same tactic. I attack and distract, and you go in for an attack. When you need to cool down, we switch and I take your place"

"Sounds good" She mumbled with a serious expression "Let's make him kiss our boot"

"Sounds like a plan"

And with this we charged, each our own battlecry singing through the air, as we charged towards what was only the second half of our long battle.

* * *

We were completely exhausted as we stumbled our way back out of the cave. We were very tired, and our HP was down to the last tens of points. We would have healed ourselves by now, if it wasn't for the fact that we didn't have any health potions left. If we could manage to get back to town without encountering any monsters or NPC's, we might be able to make it.

Of course, we weren't that lucky.

Just as we were only a couple of tens of feet away from the safe zone of the nearby town, we were attacked by a viscious pack of silver-fur wolves. We could barely even manage to pull our weapons before they had pushed us against a nearby rock, our backs against the cold stone.

I growled quietly and looked over at Celine with a sad expression.

"I'm sorry i couldn't protect you... This must be the end, for the both of us..."

"It's not your fault... No one could expect only two players to get away from a mini boss alive... We're lucky to even have gotten out of the cave..."

I closed my eyes a bit, and began getting ready to meet my demise. I opened them again sharply though, when i suddenly felt Celine's hand in my own, squeezing it tightly in fear.

"At least niether of us are alone..." She mumbled silently as she looked over at me "It was good to train with you Sebastian..."

I blushed quietly as i squeezed her hand back, the wolves closing in on us with aggresive snarls.

"You too Celine..."

We both leaned our heads back against the rock behind us and closed our eyes as we began to wait for our end.

It never came though. A couple of moments of snarling, then everything went quiet. Sudden sounds of blades piercing virtual flesh was heard, and then silence again. By the time i had gotten too curious as to what the hell was happening, and i slowly opened my eyes to see what was happening.

Help had arrived just at the nick of time. Two young men, one seeming older than the other, was now standing in-between us and what was left of the wolf pack that had tried to kill us only moments earlier.

The smaller man of the pair, was a quite handsome guy with raven coloured short hair and sharp eyes. He was wearing a blue shirt with a metal plate strapped to his chest, along with dark brown thick jeans and heavy dark boots to follow,

The other man was a bit taller than the raven haired boy, and also seemed to have a bit tougher build. He seemed to be about 22 or 23. He had red-ish spiky hiar and had a red and yellow cloth bound around his head. He was wearing a beige shirt with a brown leather plate on his chest, along with brown jeans and beige heavy boots, complete with a long knife strapped to his hip by his belt.

They seemed very confident in each other's abilities and in each other. It felt like they had been training together just as long as me and Celine had. They drew their weapons again and quickly disposed of the three or four remaining wolves in the blink of an eye.

"Wow..." i mumbled in awe as they were engulfed in a sea of broken NPC pieces.

The raven haired boy sheathed his sword and looked back at us with a serious expression.

"you guys okay?" He asked, looking at us inspectantly.

"Y-Yeah, barely..." i mumbled back as i looked over at Celine, who nodded at me "Both of us are..."

"Good. Take these" The taller man smirked and threw us a healing crystal each "Wouldn't want anymore players dying on us"

I nodded quietly as both of us used our new healing items, and sighed from relief as i saw both of our healths go back to almost full health. I smiled quietly and stood back up to my feet, helping Celine back to her feet by her hand as we looked at our heroes with curious expressions.

"Who are you two?" I asked, looking at the two "You didn't have to put your life on the line for us, you know?"

"Hah, we barely risked our lives by helping you guys" The taller man said with a smirk "We're so high level, this is barely a challenge"

"I don't know what you're talking about Klein" the raven haired guy said with a doubtful expression "you we're kind of tripping on your ass when we were sprinting over here. That, plus i totally had to show you the ropes on your first day here"

"Man, you didn't have to say that in front of those two" the older man, apparently called Klein, said with a sigh as he hunched over in defeat.

I couldn't help but chuckle quietly at their jabbing at each other, and i could see from Celine's expression that she was enjoying herself as well as we continued to listen to their bickering for a while. I wasn't quite sure if i should break in between them or maybe just stay quiet like i normally would when meeting new people, but it seemed like Celine cut me short, when she stepped up to them and smiled sweetly.

"Before you two continue your husband and wife bickering," She said with a teaseful smirk "Do you guys want to go back to the village and get some beer? It will be on our tab, since it's the least we can do for what you've done for us"

The two guys looked back at us with bewildered expressions before chuckling quietly and taking a look at each other, shrugging casually.

"That sounds pretty good actually" The one named Klein said with a smirk and a thumbs up "Though i'm not sure Kazuto can have any, since the alcohol actually works just like in real life in this game"

"Huh!? It actually works like that!?" I mumbled in surprise as me and Celine followed after them back into the safe zone of town.

"Yeah, surprisingly enough" Klein said with a laugh "Though, if you set your personal information to be 17 or under, the effect gets nullified"

"Wow, you have to give Kayaba," I mumbled as we walked towards the main center of town "though he's a bastard, he's really thought things through"

"Yeah, sadly enough" Kirito mumbled with a frown "This means that if we really do reach him in the crystal palace at the top of Aincrad, He'll have some well-thought plan or strategy"

"Yeah, i know what you mean" i mumbled with a frown "It's going to be tough even getting to the Ruby Palace in the first place"

"Right" Klein said, breaking into a grin "But right now, we're going out and having fun, so let's at least push away the subject for now!"

"Sure we're gonna have fun" Kirito said with a laugh "The only fun we're gonna have is to drag your drunk ass home from the pub!"

"Damn straight, so take good care of me, guys and gal!" he said with a laugh as we walked into the town square.

It was strange. Even though we were litterally trapped inside a deathgame, we were still able to laugh, to chat heartily. We were still able to live, the people that were actually alive. i found it weird, but nice. It felt like a victory over Kayaba for once. Despite the many people who had been killed already, we were still going to fight to revenge them.

I took a quick glance over at Celine. A bright smile was still plastered onto her face, and i couldn't help but smile as well as i watched her chat with Kirito and Klein, our two new allies in the war against Kayaba and his world. I made a vow with myself at that moment. To protect her, keep her alive until the very end. If she had died in that boss battle, i don't believe i would have been able to live with the shame or guilt.

She's way too young to die already, we both knew it. I was in debt to Kirito and Klein for saving us, when i myself was unable to protect her. But that would never happen again. i promised both myself and her.

* * *

~A Few Days Later, Village Main Inn~

"Come on, Celine! We're gonna be late!"

I sighed quietly and tapped the ground with my foot as i waited for Celine in the lounge of the inn. We were about to head for a meeting the top players of the game had set in the excavation ruins in town. The meaning of the meeting was to come up with a strategy and team positions for the upcoming first boss raid.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!"

I heard this as i heard Celine scramble down the stairs, almost tripping on the way there. I sighed a bit and shook my head at her.

"I swear to god Celine, sometime you're going to stumble and crack your head open."

"Hey, it's not that bad!" She said with a pout "It's only the second... or third... time i trip"

"You shouldn't be tripping at all." I mumbled as I watched her for a moment "Anyway, let's get going. The meeting is starting in five minutes"

"Yeah, yeah. It's no big deal you know?" She said with a smile "Even if we are late, we already have a strategy for our team, right?"

"Even so, we don't know what can happen in the boss room" I mumbled as I looked over at her with a serious expression "I might have been a Beta Tester, but i barely even made it to the second floor. Besides, it's been several years between the Beta and the actual game coming out. the version of the game was updated several times since then"

She pouted a bit and rolled her eyes.

"You've been such a downpour lately" she mumbled as she puffed out her cheeks "Why are you being so paranoid and suspicious all the time? nothing is going to happen to me you know."

"How could you know that?"

she was about to protest but fell silent, thinking about it for a moment. I huffed quietly and put my arms across my chest.

"See? You don't even kno-!"

"Because you're there to protect me..."

i blushed quietly and looked over at her with a surprised expression when she cut me off.

"huh? What do you mean?"

She blushed quietly and smiled as she scratched her cheek and looked at me.

"Well, we're partners right? I know you'll be there to protect me, so I know I'm safe"

I blushed dark red and looked away from her in embarrasment.

"And even so... Since we're partners, I'm supposed to protect you too. So you don't have to be so paranoid, okay?"

She said this in a much more comfortable and confident voice, and i felt my blood pressure in my cheeks fall a little as my blush disappeared, and was replaced with a small smile.

"T-that sounds good"

* * *

~Later, At The Meeting~

I frowned quietly as Celine and I, along with the Kirito and Klein, gathered around a tactics table along with the other players as the Tactics portion of the meeting took place. On the table was a map of the Boss' main area, which seemed to be a medium sized throne room. Along with it, small digital figures of players and monsters spawned on top of the table, free for the players to move around while we discussed tactics.

"Alright, listen up, guys"

A young looking guy with blue hair, clapped his hands to gain our attention. Our gazes turned to him.

"My name's Diavel" He said with a confident smile "I'll be taking control as commander of this operation, and keeping an eye over the different squadrons, ranging from squad A to squad E"

We all nodded quietly. His simple being here, radiated an aura of leadership and cconfidence. Even without knowing the guy, i could tell that he was the born leader.

"Under this meeting, we'll discuss which signals i will give to who, and who will focus on what. Also, we'll be establishing squadrons, and who are in which squad"

I nodded quietly at him and watched him come up with a strategy. I got a feeling that he had played war-based games before, caused he moved the samll figures on the table around like he was the born warleader.

First, the squadrons was established. Since there was so many shield bearers, Squad A C and E was set to form the defensive line in front of squad B and D. Squad B and D was the attackers, who was going to keep the boss and his minions on the ropes. Squad D was to take care of the minions, and squad B was to beat back the boss, and eventually kill him if possible. If squad D managed to kill the minions, they were to back up squad B in attacking the boss until new minions would spawn.

"How does that sound, everyone?"

Diavel looked up at the rest of us. This strategy sounded like something way better than anything i could come up with anyway.

"Alright. We're setting out to the boss room first thing tomorrow morning. Please begin forming squads and teams. Come back and tell me your teams in half an hour."

And with that, the crowd dispersed, several people already talking. Celine, Klein, Kirito and myself, stayed behind so we could have a talk about who would be on team with who.

We formed a circle, the four of us, and quickly formed a team. I noticed how Kirito's gaze was elsewhere.

"Kirito? You okay?"

"Yeah, just give me one second"

He broke away from the rest of us and approached a caped girl sitting alone the tribune. He talked with her quietly, before coming back to us.

"What was that about, Kirito?"

"Nothing, she just seemed lonely, so i recruited her to our party"

Just as he said that, i noticed a name popping up on my HUD, along with the other names of my party.

"Asuna, huh...?"

So she was was going to join our party? We were now a five man party, and our chances of survival had definitely increased. I just hoped no one would get killed.

 **A/N**

 **Hey guys, hope you enjoyed this chapter of Sword Art Online – Worldwide.**

 **It's been a while since I've written on this story. It's good to come back to it. And now that all my exams are finally over, I can finally relax and focus on writing and making good content on youtube, focus on doing what I want to do.**

 **I hope to see you guys next time. Peace out friends.**


	6. Chapter 6 - One Of A Hundred

Sword Art Online

Worldwide

Chapter 6 – One Of A Hundred

A scream. A sound of a weapon piercing virtual flesh. Something wooshed past me and landed somewhere behind me with a heavy thud. I had barely even registered what had happened. All I knew is that one of our comrades had definitely taken heavy damage. I heard a yell echo somewhere in the distance, a yell of desperation and panic.

"D-Diavel!"

~An Hour Earlier~

I sighed silently as I trudged my heavy boots after staircase after staircase in an endless exhausting struggle. The heavy door we had seen past The Sinful Boneward lead into a long rock tunnel, which then led to the base of an enormous tower. Each floor was massive, and it was easy to get lost. Worse is, that some of the players had heard from info brokers that it contained more than 30 floors.

Of course there was the possibility that the info was broken, or not true, but none of us could afford to follow that knowledge, and get our hopes up. We all just hoped that we would get through this harsh struggle without using up too much of our strength. We had to save our strength for the boss battle after all.

This also brought another dilemma though. We had encountered many a monster on these floors, and we were beginning to run out of steam. Luckily, Diavel had advised us all to bring stamina potions for the rough battles ahead, but even so, we were going to run out at some point if this would continue for much longer.

I also had this nagging feeling that Celine was beginning to get tired. She was falling behind a lot, and every time we rested for a moment, she seemed like one of the players who were the least willing to get back up and keep fighting. I understood her, but even still, we were fighting for the freedom of many people. We couldn't let them down.

So I cheered her up and had her back the best I could. Not that I wasn't exhausted myself, that much has to be clear. But I knew we had to press on, or the last couple of month's fighting to find this place would have been pointless.

Finally, after having scaled staircase after staircase, we finally arrived at the last floor, which wasn't much of a floor in of itself. It seemed more like a plateau, a simple circle-round resting place where the staircase ended, leading up to a huge dark-grey metal door, formed and carved to resemble being decorated with skulls and bones of humans and animals.

I frowned quietly from nervousness and seriousness as I looked up at the huge door. I could feel the nervousness rise and bite at my chest, and I was desperate to shake it off. I couldn't show weakness now. The others, especially Celine, would pick up on it within a heartbeat. I told myself over and over that I had to be strong. Not that it helped much.

"Yo Sebastian! It's been a while!"

Suddenly I felt a clap on my shoulder and I whirled around to see who was talking to me. Lord and behold, it turned out to be Eva, waving at me with a big goofy grin.

"Eva!?" I yelped in surprise as I realized it was her "What are you doing here!? Didn't you say you couldn't be here!?"

"The guy I was supposed to meet cancelled last minute" She said with a smile "So I decided to come along and help you guys!"

"Alright, I take it you weren't around for the raiding team meeting, then?"

She excitedly shook her head, her long hair waving everywhere as she giggled.

"Not really, though I did hear from some NPC's where you were going" She said with a smirk.

"Alright, let's team up then" I said, sending her a request.

Soon, her name and HP points popped up at my HUD, and I smiled as I highfived her. I had never actually seen her in combat, but I had a feeling she would be a valuable addition to the team.

Since your name pops up on everyone's HUD when you join a team, the others quickly took notice, and everyone except the one called Asuna, came over to hear what was going on.

"Guys, this is Eva" I said with a smile as I introduced her to Kirito, Klein and Celine "I met her a while ago while taking a stroll through town"

"And he was very helpful" She said with a chuckle "It's good to meet you guys. I'll give a round on me at the inn when we all get back"

I nodded and chuckled softly. I had grown quite fond of the beer in the inn, so I wasn't about to say no to a free glass.

"That sounds good to me" I said with a chuckle "Too bad only Klein can get actually drunk though"

"Trust me kid, drink too much and you'll regret having every drunk at all"

We all laughed at this. It was nice how Eva's sudden appearance had managed to lift our spirits, and apparently it was spreading. Soon, everyone was in idle chatter, as if we weren't about to head in to what would certainly be someone's death.

I smiled quietly as we sat down in a circle and began dividing our rations between us. A loaf of bread, and some nice cooling wine was just what I had needed for my empty stomach and dry throat. While we chatted, drank and ate, I noticed that Asuna was standing by herself away from the rest of us, eating her rations alone. I frowned quietly, and decided to screw my normal nervousness, and invite her over.

"Yo uhm, Asuna right?"

She raised her head silently under her cloak. I was wondering why she wanted to hide her face like that, buy I was digressing.

"I was wondering if you wanted to join the rest of your team" I offered "We'd like to raise everyone's spirits, yours included"

She lowered her head again. It seemed like she were weighing her options. Weird, why would she stay away from her teammates like this? She didn't imply much when we discussed tactics before traveling, either. Maybe she was even more than a shut-in than I was? Even though that was near impossible.

After a while of pondering, she finally raised her head, and spoke to me for what I realized was the very first time.

"I'm happy for the offer, but…"

It was a quiet, and nervous voice. She clearly wasn't used to this much pressure.

"I would rather just deal with my demons on my own"

"Then why would you join a team? A team is supposed to support each other you know"

She looked down in shame. A long braid of hair fell down from her hair, and she yelped a bit in surprise before hurrying to put it back under her clothes.

"It seemed like a tactically good idea at the time" She mumbled softly "I just-"

"Then aren't you supposed to put your trust in your teammates?"

She gasped a bit in surprise as she looked back up at me. I could finally see her eyes under her hood. They were chocolate brown, maybe chestnut, like the braid of hair that had fallen from her hood.

"Huh?" She mumbled softly in wonder.

I smiled softly at her and took place beside her by the wall.

"If you want to survive in there, you have to trust your teammates" I said with a soft smile "If you don't trust in them to protect you, you won't get very far"

She stared at me in either wonder or confusion. I couldn't really tell because of that hood of hers.

"But if they end up being a drag, they'll only slow you down" She mumbled softly.

"That's when you take care of them" I said with a soft smile "You make sure to protect them no matter what. And then I promise you that they will dedicate everything they have to protect you too"

I had no idea if my words had had any effect on her. She stood in silence for a long time, the hood she was wearing covering her expression. After a while though, she finally nodded and stood away from the wall.

"Okay…" She mumbled silently "I'll come over in a moment okay? I just need to spawn the rest of my rations"

I nodded softly and smiled. Seemed like I had managed to see the advantages of a team, after all.

After having sat down and chatting with the others for a minute or two, Asuna came over with a smile and sat down between Kazuto and Klein. She took hold of her hood and pulled it down to reveal her face.

I had to admit, she was very beautiful. She didn't look like someone who were much older than 16 years old. She had very clean features, clean white skin, and lovely chestnut bright eyes, her long hair flowing down her back the same color as her eyes.

I chuckled quietly under my breath as I noticed how Kazuto stiffened up and blushed as he saw her face for the first time. I was sure that he was happy he had invited her into the battle party now.

After having eaten, drank and chatted for a while, Diavel finally raised himself to his feet, and addressed the crowd.

"Alright everyone, listen up" He slammed his sword to the ground in an imposing way "This is it. This is the battle of the first boss"

Everyone grew serious and began drawing their weapons. I could feel my muscles tense up in nervousness as I reached for my sword on my hip and drew it with a metallic cry.

"This is what we've been fighting for, for almost 2 months" He said with a frown "Let's go in there, and come out on the other side, victorious. Let's show the citizens of Aincrad, that this game really can be beat!"

The room exploded in a roar of cheers as Diavel turned away from us and pressed his palm to the huge iron door. The giant door opened with a deafening screak, and thumbed as they hit the wall. We reluctantly began to file into the room, weapons raised, each of us ready to jump at any threat that might jump out at us from a pillar.

When we had furthered about ten feet into the room, our surroundings were suddenly bathed in light. A magical fluid red, blue and yellow glow began to bathe us from the ceiling. It made it seem like the entire room and ceiling was fluid and living, but of course, it didn't fill anyone of us with joy. Instead, it filled us with intense tenseness and fear.

The door began to close behind us, and when we looked back up, the first floor boss and four of his minions were suddenly standing in front of us menacingly, a threatening red glow gleaming in his eyes, and his name materializing over his head.

" _Illfang, The Kobold Lord"_

And around him his minions, "The Cobold Sentinels"

I felt my grip tighten around the hilt of my sword in nervousness. A squeeze of my shoulders, and I turned my head to spot Celine and Eva on either side of me.

"It's okay" Celine said with a smile "We'll get through this. We beat the mini boss, just the two of us. We can do anything"

"And me and the others are here for backup!" Eva said with a smirk "We're practically invisible!"

I looked back at my little group. It was true, I had them by my side. And I had to get through thi, if not for my own sake, if not for my family's, then for theirs.

"Alright. Let's do it"

The battle had went well, most of it at least. With the combined efforts of all the teams, we quickly overwhelmed the Kobold Lord and his sentinels, to the point that he only had the pedestal of which his throne sat, to fight on and bite against us. We had him cornered, and with every jab and slash of our weapons we brought him closer and closer to the red zone of his health bar.

It was when he hit red though, that everything went to hell.

His eyes suddenly glowed red and he tossed his weapons away. We thought he had surrendered, when suddenly he pulled a giant blade from it's sheathe. In the blink of an eye he was suddenly gone, and everyone looked around themselves in surprised wonder.

"W-Where did he-! ARGH!"

Diavel couldn't even manage to complete his sentence. Without even seeing what had attacked him, he was suddenly sent sailing through the air, resembling a bird who had jut fallen out of it's nest. His body fell to the floor with a heavy thud, and he didn't get up.

"D-Diavel!"

I screamed and abandoned my post, as I ran over to Diavel and lifted his body, spawning a health potion on the way there. I pressed it to his lips and he drank, miraculously saving him just in the nick of time.

"Phew. I thought we had lost you there for a second" I said with a chuckle.

I helped him over to a nearby pillar and helped him lean against it before drawing my blade again.

"Stay here. You've done more than enough"

He nodded at me softly before I turned and ran back to the others.

It was a complete slaughterhouse. Men were flying left and right, and screams were filling all four corners of the room. The magical field around us had suddenly grown a dark purple, the air around us growing eerie as we desperately tried defending ourselves against our enemy.

I ran forward and screamed as I plunged my sword into his stomach. In a moment of newfound hope I looked up at him. But only saw a crazy evil smirk in return. My gaze went to his health. It had barely erased 200 HP from his total of 2000, where we could barely even hit or hurt him with his speed at the first place.

He smirked and before I could even realise what happened, I found myself sprawled across the room, my health depleted and my sword shattered.

"Dammit" I was bleeding from a wound in my stomach and from my lip, and got back up "How the hell are we supposed to deal with this guy!?"

Celine ran over and quickly gave me a health potion. The only weapons I had left in my inventory was a short sword, so I equipped it.

"If we try to surround and confuse him, we might have a chance" Celine said with a frown "Come on, we need your help"

I nodded quietly and sprinted back. Kirito, Asuna, Eva and Klein held the Kobold Lord back the best they could, along with the rest of the squadrons. We managed to back him up in a corner in combined effort, when he suddenly slashed downwards towards a bunch of spear users.

They screamed in fear, when Kirito, Klein and I, moved in front of them to parry his massive blade in combined succession. We even managed to put him off balance, which gave us enough space to move in on him even more.

Kirito, Celine and I screamed at the top of our lungs as we lunged forward and stabbed and slashed with all our might. The Kobold Lord fought back with his last bits strength, swinging downwards with a devastating blow. We dodged to the left and screamed again as we crossed our swords and used our last bit of strengths, to burry our sword deep into the pit of The Kobold Lord's stomach, a bright red wound forming across it's stomach and chest.

One last pitiful cry from it's jaws, and it suddenly swelled up and exploded in a sea of broken blue glass panes. I widened my eyes as I realized it. Everyone held their breath. When the "Congratulations" screen popped up, the hall exploded into cheers.

"YES! WE DID IT!"

Our little group of fighters ganged up and hugged each other in a group hug. After a while, when the cheering died down a bit, someone suddenly spoke up.

"Hey, who got the last hit bonus?"

Everyone looked around at each other, and suddenly a small screen popped up in front of both me, Kirito and Celine. We widened our eyes as we looked at the screens.

Each of us had hit the boss at the same time as a final blow, so we each unlocked an item. Celine had received a Fullmoon Trinket, Kirito a Coat Of Midnight, and I had received a sword of illusion, each of them giving a huge boost to a different stat. I was very happy to know that you could make yourself invisible temporarily with the sword skill my new sword granted me.

We each closed our screens and smiled.

"We've each received something" I said with a smirk.

After the crowd began to disperse, I made my way over to Diavel, and helped him up.

"You okay buddy?" I asked him with a smile.

He nodded softly and smiled.

"Yeah, just need some rest"

"Alright, i'll take you back to town after we've opened up for floor 2"

He nodded quietly and I began to working my way towards the staircase that had appeared behind Illfang's throne.

To think that we had beat the first floor boss without casualties. It was a wonderful feeling, and I couldn't have been more proud of everyone's efforts.

The other's quickly came over and Kirito and Klein began helping to carry Diavel on their own, leaving me to get some rest as well. When I was about to mount the steps, Asuna tugged at my sleeve.

"Hm? Yes?"

I asked her softly and turned towards her. She smiled and looked at me.

"That was amazing" She said "The way you, Kirito and Celine was fighting… I hope to follow in your footsteps"

I nodded softly and chuckled "I could always help you figuring out the menu if you want"

"Huh? How did you know I have trouble with the menu?"

"I've been noticing it when you were alone" I said with a chuckle "I've noticed how frustrated you are with it"

She pouted a bit and blushed.

"Don't tease me"

I chuckled and let her up the stairs along with the others. And when I walked softly, wondering how well we'd do on floor 2, I could have sworn I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I decided to ignore it and press ahead.

What I didn't know is that Celine was watching me from behind a pillar.

"Oh Sebastian… How can I ever tell you?"

 **A/N**

 **Hey everyone! Hope you like today's chapter!**

 **I've looked forward to this so much since last month. This will probably be the only chapter sadly, since I have been very busy this week.**

 **Other than that, I don't really have much to say, besides once again, thank you for all your support, and keep reading guys.**


	7. Chapter 7 - The Rings Of Trust

_Sword Art Online_

 _Worldwide_

 _Chapter 7 – The Rings Of Trust_

After we had cleared the first floor boss, it almost seemed like a spark of motivation had run through the population of players in Aincrad. Not only did we manage to quickly rise from floor 2 to floor 10 within a few short months, but several groups of people from The Town Of Beginnings had somehow trained themselves to follow shortly after us, which in turn would mean more players for the frontlines.

It no longer looked like a completely impossible task that was set upon us.

When we had settled down in the first town of floor 5, Celine and I decided to part for a while. She wanted to be more of a help to the frontlines, so she decided to become an assistant in one of the local smithing stores, which she had created with a friend we had met along the way.

As for Kirito, Klein and Asuna, they all decided to press on, and follow along the leading group to the front lines, to help out clearing dungeons and floors. I understood that, since they were all very powerful. They would become a big help for the frontline players.

As for me, I decided to stick around on floor 7. It had a cute little mountain village south-west of the map, and I decided to settle in there and take a break for a while. I had become extremely exhausted lately, and a week's vacation or so was just what I needed to get back on my feet. I had honestly had enough of monster grinding, and boss battling.

One morning, I woke up from a relatively peaceful slumber, and rubbed my eyes silently as I yawned. I had mostly hung around town, using whatever spare coin I had at cheap restaurants and cafés, and mostly just relaxing in the edge of the forest just outside town. Living the virtual life, as I should say.

The plan was pretty much the same for today. Go into the inn, get breakfast, go to the plains outside the forest and relax all day, and maybe help the occasional farmer complete a quest now and then, and then go home when I decided the sun was hanging low enough in the sky.

Though today would have a much faster tempo going, not because I wished for it, but more because I was pretty much forced into the situation by a certain someone.

That morning I had just gotten a delicious breakfast, and was about to head out to get to village gate, before I was roughly patted on the shoulder. I quickly spun around to face the person patting me.

"Oh hey Eva! It's been a while!" I said with a smile.

"It sure has! What have you been up to?"

Before I even knew it, she had taken a seat beside my own, and pulled me back into my seat. After reacquiring my composure, I smiled at her and ordered another round of bacon and eggs from a passing waitress.

"Not much lately, actually. I've been taking a break from dungeon clearing as of late"

"Really? What a lazy bum you are" She said with a giggle, and eyed me with a smirk.

I raised an eyebrow at her and jabbed her rip a bit.

"If I'm so lazy, what are you doing on floor 7?" I asked with a snicker "The frontlines have already made it past floor 10 you know?"

"That may be true, but my true calling is here!" She made a goofy pose and smirked as she looked back at me "I've been wanting to train my thief skills for a while, and I finally managed to find an NPC who trains players in that branch of the skill tree"

"So you have to stay in town to get stronger?" I asked with a smile "That's your excuse for goofing off?"

"Pretty much, yeah" She admitted with a laugh, clapping her hands in delight "So what's your excuse? Why are you goofing around on the seventh floor?"

"I have none" I admitted with a chuckle, leaning against the table "No other reason to stay here than to relax and let go of your troubles for a while"

"Yeah, that is important sometimes too" She said with a smirk "Though if I relax too much, I might just end up slowing down"

"Oh god, what a tragedy" I said with a laugh "The day you decide to slow down, is the day hell freezes over"

We both laughed loudly, before she turned to me with a snicker.

"That's right. Actually, I need your help with something"

"Are you lost again?" I asked teasingly.

"No, for once, I'm not" She said with a laugh "I need your help for a fetch quest"

"Oh god, really?" I asked, mumbling silently "You do know you're asking of the near impossible, right?"

"How so?" She asked with a giggle. "A fetch quest is fairly easy."

"Well, you're asking me to get off my butt and actually do physical work"

"Well, I may have asked, but you really don't have a choice. Come with me!"

She yanked me out of the chair before pulling me outside by the shirt collar, creating much of a commotion on the way out, and leaving a baffled and irritating waiter behind, who was just about to serve us our food.

When we finally got outside I managed to yank myself out of her grip and look at her with a pout.

"You could at least tell me where we're going" I said irritated "What do you need me for?"

She smirked quietly and pointed in the direction of the nearby forest.

"There's gonna be a special event in the forest clearing today, at about 3" She said with a smile "The event requires for you to have a partner, so I'm taking you with me"

"A partner? What kind of event is that?"

"Just come on, you'll see when we get there" She said, giggling as she leaded me along.

I sighed silently and rolled my eyes as she leaded us through the village gate. She had way too much energy in her, that much was a certainty. I kind of played with the idea whether she was a robot powered by an atomic battery or something, but that of course was silly under the circumstances that we were currently in.

What I wanted most right now was to slack off and relax on the plains, like I had always done. But knowing Eva, she wouldn't give me one moment or opportunity to escape, even with her back turned.

"So what exactly is it that we're fetching again?" I asked as we began to be able to see the trees of the forest in the distance "You did say it was a fetch quest, right?"

"Well, it's not really a fetch quest, to be exact" She said with her usual grin "But you'll see when we get there, first I need to find the damn place. It's pretty well hidden in the forest"

"Are we gonna battle anything on the way there? I would prefer even that over just fetching some item or something"

"Well, not anything special, besides the occasional fairy or forest thief, so we should be okay"

"I had no idea there was humanoid monsters in the game" I mumbled in admittance "But to be honest, it's not that much of a surprise. Humanoids are pretty common in MMO games"

"Are you gonna stand there and ramble about monsters all day, or are we gonna conquer a forest?!" Eva said with an impatient laugh "You want to get back to your snooze, don't you?"

"Meh, it's not more important than to help a good friend" I said with a smirk "Besides, getting a bit of EXP and loot might be of value to me"

"Good thinking, let's get going before anyone finds out about the quest"

We began to walk through the thick and lively forest, bugs and smaller animals dispersing from us with every step we took. This might be one of the most curious forests I had ever been in virtual or not. As soon as you would step between first couple of trees in the forest edge, something almost like a shadow would drop over the surrounding area, giving it quite the mysterious and mystical feel to an already magical place.

All kinds of weird plants and mushrooms would glow a faint light blue, illuminating the surrounding vines and leaves of the dark undergrowth. Dots that had a slighter brighter blue aura to them was flying all around us, giving the place a feeling of being full of magic, but when you would look closer, it would turn out that it was a special kind of fireflies, attracted by the warm glow of the surrounding plant life.

As we were making our way through the thick undergrowth, I suddenly heard a whistling sound cutting through the air, and just managed to duck my head, and escape having an arrow plunge through my skull, and jumped backwards to escape another surprise attack from behind a nearby tree.

I growled quietly as Eva and I pulled back, to watch three or four cloaked figures walk out from behind a couple of trees, and their tree branches. I frowned and quickly drew my sword from my hip.

"Damn, almost got me there" I mumbled silently "I can't believe we let ourselves ambush"

"What, you saying you didn't notice them?" Eva said with a smirk "I already noticed them when we first entered the forest!"

"What!? You could have told me something!"

"Hey, I know you have good reflexes" She said with a smirk "And besides, I wanted to see how good your detection skill really is. Mine is better apparently"

"That's a sneak thief, for you" I mumbled with a pout "Whatever, let's just get rid of these little bastards so we can proceed!"

"Roger, leave this to me!"

As we charged into battle, I noticed how Eva almost completely changed her approach to things. She got this steely expression, one of intense seriousness, and she seemed to get quicker the further into battle she got. Eventually, the two thieves she was fighting with couldn't keep up, and got overwhelmed with the practical storm of attacks from Eva's dagger, before disintegrating into nothing.

I had a bit more trouble with my two thieves, but they weren't that tough to deal with. They had put everything into the element of surprise, and once you would manage to land an attack, they couldn't take much damage in correlation to defense and so forth. A few quick slashed with my stab sword would quickly dispose of them.

"Little bastards were all bark but no bite" I mumbled with a huff as I sheathed my sword "You're awfully scary in battle though, Eva. You're more skilled than I thought"

"Hey, I might be a goof, but when it comes to battle, I usually get serious" She said as she stuck out her tongue at me childishly "Even I can be serious, you know?"

"I honestly find that hard to believe" I said with a raised eyebrow.

"Whatever, Mr. Smartass, let's just get going"

The following half an hour went by fairly fast, being a mix of battling and pushing through the undergrowth of the thick forest. The closer we got to the clearing in the forest, the thicker the forest would get, almost as if the whole forest was alive and trying to keep us from reaching our goal. Typical, even our surroundings was against us.

When we finally began to be able to see light break through the overhead branches, we were approaching a big open field, sunlight pouring down from above us. Further ahead seemed to be a dirt hill, with a stone gate in the front, and older looking man in a bright yellow robe standing and smiling at us as we approached.

"Oh, it's you, Eva" He said with a soft smile "Back again, I see?"

I see. So she must have been here by herself at first, then found out that you need to have someone with you in order to do the second half of the quest.

"I am, gramps" She said with a smirk as she introduced me "This is Rintar, one of my friends. I was hoping he would suffice"

"I am sure he will, dear" The old man said with a hoarse voice "Have you told him about the rules?"

A menu suddenly popped up in front of me. I guess I was being invitied to participate in the second half of the quest. It read:

"The rich family who once owned the entire mountain village to the south-east, once had a son, who died tragically because of his hunting partner's cowardice. As a memory of him, the family had this special tomb erected for him. As it is hundreds of years since the son was buried here, many treasures of the now extinct rich family have been stored.

Each player will pull a lever, and judging from how deeply the two players trust each other, the two will get a corresponding powerful artifact or weapon. Cause only with the trust that the rich son lacked in his time of need, will you ever be able to progress forward towards the challenges that are yet to come.

Do you want to continue?

Y/N"

"Interesting that we even get a bit of backstory" I mumbled silently as I looked up at the older man "Who even are you, old timer?"

He chuckled quietly and smiled.

"I was once a servant of the fifth generation of the rich family in the mountain village" he said with a smile "But then a terrible illness struck the family, and I was the only survivor"

"And now you're giving away their treasures? Is that really okay with you?" I asked silently.

He just sighed silently nodded as he stroked his beard thoughtfully.

"I thoroughly believe that the weapons and other stuff in the tomb will do much better help in the hands of brave adventures, than in the bottom of the crypt. Besides, they might just rot away in there, which would be an enormous waste"

"I guess I can see the sense in that" I mumble silently "So the better trust bond between me and Eva, the better the items?"

"Exactly" He said with a smile "It is both a form of settlement for the son that lost his live in the hunt, plus a test of a newborn friendship here in the land of Aincrad"

"I like the way these people think" Eva said with a laugh "Well anyway, hurry up and accept! I can't wait to see what I'll get!"

I chuckled and quickly accepted the quest part, before going to the left of the gate, while Eva went to the right.

"Alright, you ready? 3, 2, 1, NOW!"

We pulled the two levers at the same time, and the heavy stone doors began to pull apart with heavy thuds and shakes of the immediate surrounding ground. The shaking slowly began to settle down, revealing a big treasure chest in the middle of the room inside. Her hunger for powerful items made Eva quickly hurry inside and look down into the chest.

"Huh?! Hey Sebastian, look at this!"

I smiled and quickly headed inside beside her, seeing a couple of golden rings lying on the bottom of the big heavy chest. I smiled a bit brighter as it seemed that they were radiating a certain kind of warm glow, and as I picked them up between my fingers, I could feel them buzz with warmth.

An item window popped up in front of me, and I quickly read the description:

"The Rings Of Trust

A set of rings empowered by the trust of the two people originally discovering them. When two people both wear a ring each, their SPD, ATK, and DEF will all increase with 5 stat points"

"This is actually a pretty powerful accessory" I say with an excited smile "Want to keep one of these?" I asked as I offered her a ring.

"Actually, you can keep the rings, buddy" she said with a smirk "I had honestly hoped for a piece of armor, or maybe a weapon. You can give one of the rings to someone special, okay?"

I blushed quietly. The fact that she would assume that such a person would exist in my life, would mean that she thought that I liked someone. But when, and why had she made that assumption?

"How do you know I have such a special person?" I asked with an embarrassed blush as I hid away the rings in my inventory.

"Hehe, that's a secret" She said with a teasing chuckle "Anyway, this was fun. I realize this was the first quest we've ever done together, Sebastian"

"Yeah, this was definitely a fun time" I say with a smile "I should join parties more often"

"Why don't you?" She asked with a cock of her head "You're a cool guy, I doubt anyone would resent you"

"Well, I don't always have an easy time approaching people" I said with a shy smile "I can talk to you just fine, but that's because you made the initial approach, not me"

"Hmm, I guess that's true" She said with a gentle smile "Well, I'm here to talk when you want to"

"That's very sweet of you, thanks Eva" I said with a smile "For now, let's head back to town and get that breakfast meal I had ordered you, alright?"

"Sounds like a plan. Thank you for your help, old ma…. Hey, where did he go!?"

It took us this long to turn around and realize that he old man guarding the tomb had mysteriously vanished, and I looked at Eva with a surprised expression.

"Mysterious…"


	8. Chapter 8 - A New Blade

_Sword Art Online_

 _Worldwide_

 _Chapter 8 - A New Blade_

~A few months later, on floor 6. Celine's POV~

"Lisbeth! I'm taking 5 off!"

"Okay, but don't goof off too long okay?"

I sighed silently and laid the blacksmith's apron on top of the desk as I sat down and poured myself a cup of tea. Work had been harsh today, especially on Lisbeth. She had been split between working the oven and hammer, and tending to costumers all day today. Luckily she had me to assist in any way I could, even with my low smithing skill.

Even though we had only been in the game for a couple of months by now, Lisbeth had already managed to pull her smithing skill to a scary level, and she was one of the best smiths around. Everyone in most of the currently available Aincrad came to her for advice on weapons, or to have new ones created, and as much as she loved the business, the many costumers were wearing down on her.

Even I was starting to get tired, even when Lisbeth and I did our best to help one another as best we could.

"Celine, where are you?"

"I'm out in the back Lis!" I called back, taking a sip of my cup "Do you need anything?"

"Yeah, could you go and get some more crafting materials from the deposit?"

"Sure, just one moment"

I sighed silently and wiped my forehead of sweat as I stepped into the fresh air of the outside. The inside of the building was hot as all hell, and not only because of the smelting furnace. The sun was standing high in a cloudless sky, and even when the sun was just rising this morning, it was incredibly hot. I was thankful that I got a moment to catch my breath in-between forging weapons and armor.

I heaved a big crate of materials into my arms and kicked the door to the deposit closed behind me as a headed back to the forgery. More heat. Great. As much as I loved working with Lisbeth in the shop, I could live without all the heat by the smelter. I also had a feeling that Lisbeth only had made me work the forge so she could be free for the heat and stand at the cash register instead.

I was jealous, but then again, I was HER apprentice, not the other way around. She was the one calling the shots whether I liked it or not. I walked into the shopping area of the building and handed Lis the materials she had requested.

"Thank you, this should help immensely"

Lisbeth smiled as she accepted the crate.

"But Lis, why do you need materials?" I asked softly "I'm the one working at the forge right now"

"Well, you might just brace yourselves."

I raised an eyebrow in confusion. I didn't know what she meant, but I was about to find out.

I hadn't noticed the guy that had stood in the back of the shop and I widened my eyes and smiled as I realized who it was.

"Sebastian!"

He looked up and smiled once he saw me, and I ran over and gave him a quick hug.

"It's been a while, Celine"

I chuckled quietly and nodded as I stepped back.

"Yeah, I haven't seen you since floor 5" I said excitedly "What have you been up to?"

"Not much really" He said with a smirk "Mostly slacking to be honest, but at least I've managed to grow to level 20"

"That's pretty high though, right?" I mumbled in surprise "I don't know anyone else who's that high"

"You should see Kirito, Klein and Asuna then" He said with another broad smile "They're all level 30, 28 and 29 respectively"

"Wow" I looked at him, almost unable to believe his words "But what else could you expect from frontline players?"

"Good to see you again, Rintar" Lis said with a smirk as she stepped up to us "You seem to have been doing well"

"Nah, I haven't done all that much" he said bashfully "At least not anything of importance"

"What are you talking about!?" Lis said with a laugh "You're level 20 already right?!"

"Seriously, it's not really as amazing as you seem to think it is"

We all laughed as we walked up to the counter, where the crate of materials was waiting for us.

"Sebastian, not to be rude or anything, but what are you doing here?" I asked as I looked back at him over my shoulder "Judging from what I see, your equipment seems to be in tip top shape"

"Yeah, everything except my sword" He admitted as he showed me the broken blade of his former weapon "I broke it during a fight with a pack of lizards at the jungle of floor 9. I was hoping to make a decent replacement"

"If that's the case, why don't you let Lis take care of it?" I asked, as I gazed over at Lis "She has one of the highest smithing skills I know of"

"Really?" He asked, looking over at Lis as well "How high is it?"

Lisbeth's smirk widened of confidence as she quickly showed him her stats.

"4000 points boy!" She said with a smirk "I've been forging and mending weapons nonstop for ages lately. Bend down for your smithing master, muahahaha"

Sebastian just rolled his eyes and chuckled at her goofy laugh before continuing.

"It seems I can trust you with pretty much anything then" he said with a smile "Can I count on you making a sword?"

"What kind of question is that?!" She punched his shoulder playfully and took his sword to take a look at its stats "Do you want it to be stronger than your first one?"

"If you can just make it just as strong, I should be fine" Sebastian said with a smile "I don't need an excessive amount of power"

"Yeah, we don't want it to be too powerful either" I mumbled "If it becomes too powerful, he might not be able to use it"

"I see you've learned well, my apprentice" Lis laughed and nodded, before placing the broken weapon on the desk and rummaging through the material crate "A platinum ingot and some blue steel should be enough"

I nodded softly and waited for her to step back before grabbing some materials myself, including a little Rose Gem.

"Huh? You're gonna try too, Celine?" Lis asked with a smile "It's not that I don't believe in you, but I believe your chance of success would only be about 20 percent" 

"Yeah, I know but…" I could feel myself flare up in a blush "Well, Sebastian's pretty much kept me alive for the first long while we played this game. I want to at least try to return the favor"

Lisbeth snickered a little bit as a blush ran up Sebastian's cheeks as well.

"Well, you can try first Celine" She said with a bad attempt at trying to hide her giggle "I won't stop you"

I nodded silently and tried to conceal my blush as I looked up at Sebastian.

"Just give me a moment please"

I twirled around and hurried out to the back before anything else embarrassing happened.

~Sebastian's POV~

I watched her, embarrassed and perplexed, as she ran for the back of the shop. What was that all about? She had been blushing and self-conscious too. Lisbeth just sent me a sly smirk.

"You do know she likes you, right?"

I almost tripped over my own feet. Celine!? Like me!?

"What the hell are you talking about, Liz!?"

"Trust me! I'm a girl, I know these things" She said with a smirk "Didn't you notice how happy she got when she noticed it was you? And how she was all shy about making you your new weapon?"

"T-That doesn't have to mean anything" I mumbled with a dark blush "And besides, we've only known each other a few months at best."

"So? Love isn't something you can control" Liz said with a smirk as she jabbed my ribs with her elbow.

Liz and I had known each other for a while, even before the time SAO started. We had been online friends for a long time, and we had even talked about hanging out sometime, though that didn't happen before we were both trapped in this place.

We had been talking about how we were both going to play the game on the day of release, but we never managed to find each other at the first very long while of the game. It was only when the frontlines had managed to battle their way to the 3rd floor that I had entered a random smithing shop, and had realized that Liz was the one standing behind the counter, greeting me when I came in. Since then Celine and I decided to part, her reasoning being that she wanted to be a help to the players besides being on the frontlines.

I think the role of shop keeper in town fit both of them perfectly. She was not always as determined to fight monsters as everyone else, and she often hesitated in fear when we approached a big monster or something particularly scary. Letting her make armor, weapons and items would seem like a perfect way for her to help the players work towards finishing the game.

Besides, it quelled my worries about Celine's safety quite a bit. I didn't always feel quite well with her battling monsters in the field. Not that I doubted her skills, in fact, she was a very skilled fighter, but her self-doubt and insecurity would often lead her to hold back, or hesitate when choosing what to do in battle, which of course would often leave her open.

A fighter often have to trust their instincts, and choose what would be most suitable for a particular situation on only a moment's notice, so her hesitation was actually putting her life in danger.

Letting her work at the smithies would not only provide her excellent protection from the outside world, but it would also free me from having to fear that she would die outside of town.

I was scared of death. That is only natural. I was afraid that I would never get to see my family again. But an even bigger fear I had, was to lose her. To one day open my (very short) friend list, and discover that her name was no longer displayed there, meaning in her death. Knowing that I wasn't there to protect her, to help her, and to shield her from the fear that she so obviously felt when she dared cross the city borders.

"Yo, Rintar!"

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked back up at Liz, who was looking at me with an annoyed expression.

"Oh I'm sorry, did you say something Liz?"

She sighed annoyed and smacked me on top of the head.

"Dude, you gotta listen when people talk to you" I pouted and rubbed my head as she continued "I'm not gonna tell you what to do. Just know that she feels that way"

She sighed and turned away from me.

"Let's go check up on her, and see how she's doing"

I nodded silently, my thoughts and my embarrassment making me fall silent. If she really did feel like that for me, did I want to give the opportunity a chance? What were my own feelings on this? This whole situation was a shock to me. I mean, it's me. A shut-in neet, who had no other redeeming quality than the fact that I was good at video games.

What could she possibly get out of feeling like that towards me? Was I even supposed to be sure that Liz wasn't full of it? I decided to push the matter aside for now, and go out to the back along with Liz to check up on how Celine's weapon crafting was getting along.

Celine smiled up at us, a hint of nervousness in her features, as she brandished the forging hammer that were required to start smithing.

"Oh, hey guys" She smiled and gestured down towards the glowing materials "I'm almost done. Not sure if it's gonna be a success or not though"

"I'm sure it'll come along fine" I said softly, giving her a pat on the head "And even if it doesn't, I'll just gather some new materials so we can start over"

She nodded softly and took a deep breath before continuing to strike the glowing-hot metal. You could practically see how the heat permeated off the surface, as it flattened out and got more refined with each strike from Celine's hammer.

"Hate to admit it, but as a gamer, I must" I mumbled, a grunt of annoyance escaping me "That Kayaba douchebag haven't held back at all when it comes to graphics in this game"

"I'm not sure the VRMMO genre will survive after something like this" Liz commented, her arms closed over her chest as she watched her apprentice "I mean, 100K people trapped in an online world? This is a tragedy no one will be able to ignore"

That was a thought that had crossed my mind as well. Who would be crazy enough to approve a project anything like SAO, when something like this happened for everyone to see?

"You're right, but let's not focus on that for now" I mumbled, sweeping the thought aside "Besides, I doubt a lot of us will ever go back to VRMMO's after this"

Liz nodded, but before she could abbreviate, Celine piped up.

"It's done!"

Liz and I began gathering around the forgery and I watched in awe as the flattened metal began to reform itself into the shape of a longsword. The glow slowly began to fade, revealing my new weapon in all its glory.

A silver-grey handle, along with a long shining blade. I swear I could see a dark purple glow to it as it finished forming, and I could basically feel the upgraded power push off it.

"Daaaamn…"

I mumbled this under my breath as Liz whistled in admiration.

"Not bad rookie" She smirked, bumping Celine's shoulder with her fist "It's almost as powerful as his old sword"

I smiled and slowly picked up the sword, gazing down at the insignia embedded in the middle part of the handle. A bright red rose was carved into the insignia, giving off a faint crimson glow as the sword connected with my hands.

A small menu window popped up, and I quickly gazed over the text:

" _Please enter a name for your new +3 Petalburst Sword -_

" "

"hmm… A name huh…?"

I frowned slightly in thought before smiling and quickly typing in a name, and putting the sword in my inventory.

"So… what did you name it?" Celine asked curiously, fidgeting curiously.

"Heh, that's a secret" I chuckled and patted her hair before chucking a handful of Col in Liz's direction "Here you go, smith. Payment for a job well done"

I could tell that Celine was pouting when I turned to leave.

"Have a good one, both of you. Celine, we'll have to catch up sometime"

"Huh? You're leaving?" She asked disappointed "You're not gonna stay here for a while?"

"I wish I could" I sighed softly, looking back at her with a sorry smile "I'll message you next time I'm off okay?"

I waved back at them as I exited the shop and took a breath of fresh air as I stepped outside.

"Alright. Time to get back to work!"


End file.
